Ryan Lochte, the 12-time Olympic medal victor who claimed to be robbed by men identifying themselves as police officers in Rio de Janeiro last weekend, issued an apology on Friday “for my behaviour” in an episode that has cast a pall over the Games.
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Brazilian authorities said they could not corroborate the robbery claim, and the swimmers could not remember pertinent details about the event.
Brazilian police say that at 6 a.m. on Sunday, Lochte, along with fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen, stopped at a gas station in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio where many Olympic venues are located.
Security camera footage emerged showing the swimmers in a confrontation with the guards.
The rapid-fire developments early Friday came hours after police announced that Ryan Lochte and three of his teammates had not been held at gunpoint after a night of partying, as he claimed.
The 12-time gold medallist reiterated his view that a stranger pointed a gun at him and demanded money to let him leave.
Lochte wrote it was “traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country – with a language barrier – and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money”.
Authorities in Brazil on Thursday said the swimmers fabricated the story after they vandalized a gas station’s bathroom.
Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were on their way home to the United States of America today after being pulled off a plane a day earlier to testify about an alleged robbery at the Rio Olympics that Brazilian police said was made up.
The remaining “robbed” American swimmer stuck in Brazil has agreed to pay a large fine to avoid prosecution and avoid jail..
Ryan Lochte has apologized for embellishing a story about an alleged armed robbery in Rio De Janerio.
NBC reported today that the US Olympic swimmer backed off from some of his earlier claims. “They pulled out their guns, they told the otherswimmers to get down on the ground – they got down on the ground”.
David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia, said the incident touched a nerve in Brazil because of the country’s history and cases of people committing crimes while impersonating police.
While he’s medaled often, Lochte’s accomplishments have always been overshadowed by teammate Michael Phelps – the most decorated Olympian in history.
In a statement issued later on Thursday, the US Olympic Committee (USOC) apologized for the actions of the US Olympic swimmers, acknowledging that they had not in fact been robbed. Lochte won a gold in Rio in a relay race alongside Phelps.
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Lochte has said he plans to take an extended break after Rio, and relocate to Los Angeles.
