US Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte has apologised for his behaviour surrounding a late-night incident at a Rio de Janeiro gas station, saying he should have been more “careful and candid” about how he described what happened.
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Lochte, now back in the USA, said in his apology that he delayed releasing his statement until “it was clear that my teammates [three other swimmers involved in the investigation] would be arriving home safely”.
The 12-time gold medalist reiterated his view that a stranger pointed a gun at him and demanded money to let him leave.
Lochte, along with his three teammates, initially claimed they were robbed at gunpoint by individuals posing as police officers while they were taking a taxi back to Rio’s Olympic Village from the French hospitality house on August 14, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Gunnar Bentz, one of the four USA swimmers caught up in the gas station scandal in Rio, has released a statement through the University of Georgia detailing the events of the night in question.
Lochte, who flew back to America while the police investigation was ongoing, was indicted on Thursday night for the false reporting of a crime to police, Brazil’s Globo news channel reported.
Read his full statement here.
“This was a situation that could and should have been avoided”.
Multiple news reports early Friday quoted his lawyer, Breno Melaragno, as saying Feigen had reached a deal to pay a fine of almost $11,000 that would be directed to a charity in Brazil.
Lochte returned to the States and his passport was not seized. As of Friday morning, a Google news search for Lochte’s name and the Portuguese word mentiroso (“liar”) returned almost 5,800 results. Once the security officials received money from the athletes, the athletes were allowed to leave.
Rio 2016 organizers said moments after Lochte’s statement that it was welcome and that they were prepared to move on. Without question, I am taking away a valuable life lesson from this situation.
Video surveillance confirms the men damaged a gas station bathroom and urinated on the side of the gas station’s wall.
“We accept and appreciate his apology”, said Mario Andrada, spokesman for the local organizers of the Rio Games.
Bentz and Conger said in revised testimony before their departure that they were not robbed, senior Rio police officer Alexandre Braga told Reuters.
Authorities brought three of them in for questioning, Bentz and Conger having been pulled off a plane bound for the United States.
Bentz and Conger “were heard only as witnesses”. They demanded the swimmers get down on the ground, and when Lochte refused, he said one bandit cocked a gun and pressed it up against his forehead.
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The tone of Thursday night’s statement by the United States Olympic Committee suggested that at least Lochte and perhaps the other swimmers could face punishment from the USOC and perhaps even be banned from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
