USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said Feigen was able to “secure the release of his passport this evening and is headed home”. But his apology has been accepted by Olympic officials, and the mayor of Rio.
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While Bentz placed the blame on Lochte for instigating the trouble at the gas station early Sunday, he also supported a number of details in Lochte’s account. But two men with guns – security guards at the gas station – approached the auto, brandished their weapons and prevented them from leaving, Bentz said. Shifting accounts in TV interviews and social media posts.
Ryan – who won gold in Brazil in the 4x200m freestyle relay – has now apologised for “not being more careful or candid” in how he described the events. He initially had said he was a victim of an armed robbery – and he still says it was a situation in which a stranger pointed a gun at him and demanded money.
He also apologised for “taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics”. “I am very proud to represent my country in Olympic competition and this was a situation that could and should have been avoided”.
The saga of American swimmer Ryan Lochte and three teammates during the Rio Olympics has produced a head-spinning series of developments in Brazil and beyond.
“I think that is why I do so many different things with the hair, the grills, the insane shoes”, he said in Rio, “It’s just my personality coming out there”.
The swimmers then handed over Brazilian and US currency totalling about $50 to Deluz, who said he gave the money to a security guard, who then passed it to a gas station employee. Despite rebutting the swimmers’ accounts, Rio police did acknowledge that a security guard had pulled a gun on the athletes at the gas station and demanded payment for the damage, the Associated Press reported.
Bentz and Conger arrived in Miami Friday aboard an American Airlines flight from Brazil, having sat in curtained-off seats for much of the journey.
Police claim the group of Olympic swimmers were drunk and belligerent on Sunday morning, August 14.
During their testimony, the two said they asked the taxi driver to stop because Lochte needed to use the bathroom.
His sponsors, including Speedo, Ralph Lauren and airweave premium bedding, have been in no hurry to cut ties with him, though they have said they are monitoring the situation. Lochte says he’s learned some valuable lessons from the incident in Rio.
Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso told AP that the athletes paid 100 Brazilian reals, or about $33, and $20 in USA money to leave the gas station that night.
Feigen is still resolving his charges before returning to the U.S. The money was donated to a local charity that supports sports programs.
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Lochte had called it a gunpoint robbery; Brazilian police said he and the three other swimmers vandalized a bathroom while intoxicated and were confronted by armed security guards.
