“It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country – with a language barrier”.
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Lochte, now back in the US, 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”.
“Understand that the Brazilian population was quite disappointed in the actions and the facts”, said Rio spokesperson Mario Andrada on Friday.
Angry Brazilian authorities turned the tables on the swimmers this week as it became clear that the mugging drama did not hold up. Simmons found the advertisement that had reportedly been ripped from the wall by the swimmers, but the bathroom that had reportedly been damaged looked to be in normal shape. Lochte and his teammates appear calm as gas station attendants mill around them.
In revised testimony that news site G1 had access to, Bentz and Conger said they were not robbed. On Thursday, however, officials claimed that Lochte’s teammates Conger and Bentz admitted the robbery story was fabricated. “They did not lie in their statements”, lawyer Sergio Riera told The Associated Press.
Andrada said the country will accept the swimmer’s apology and hoped this matter comes to an end. $11,000 to avoid prosecution. Police said there was no robbery. That claim started unraveling when police said investigators couldn’t substantiate it. Then, another person stepped in to intervene between the athletes and the guards, and the swimmers left money, police said. Veloso said the guards did not use excessive force and would have been justified in drawing their weapons because the athletes “were conducting themselves in a violent way”. After paying about Dollars 50 in compensation for the damage to the station, they left unharmed and returned to the athletes’ Village. Even more damning, surveillance footage showed the men arriving back to the athlete’s village after the incident in good spirits.
In his original account, Lochte, 32, said he and three other USA swimmers had been pulled over by armed men calling themselves police officers, one of whom put a gun to his head before taking the cash from his wallet. “They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground – they got down on the ground”. Shifting accounts in TV interviews and social media posts.
The swimmers flew home on Thursday after a local crowd jeered them, calling them “liars” and “fakes”. Lochte, a 12-time medalist, won a gold in Rio in a relay race alongside Phelps.
Lochte and the other swimmers could face sanctions from USA Swimming, including fines or suspension.
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“. and the people of Brazil who welcomed us to Rio and worked so hard to make sure that these Olympic Games provided a lifetime of great new memories”.
