The apology comes after Lochte’s fellow teammates, who were with him the night of the incident, gave sworn statements stating Lochte was drunk and misrepresented what actually happened, according to police.
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However, Rio police spotted inconsistencies in their initial statements and, following an investigation, civil police chief Fernando Veloso told a press conference that Lochte had lied to cover up a freakish episode at a petrol station and the presence of two women the group had met at the party who were in a second taxi.
However, police called this a lie, and Rio’s mayor said on Friday he had “pity and contempt” for the swimmers.
The US Olympic Committee last night apologized for the behavior of Lochte and his colleagues after the video showed some of their behavior at the station, and confirmed the four swimmers had stopped at the station to use the bathroom, where one of them committed an act of vandalism. Instead, they said Lochte had vandalized a local gas station early on Sunday and had an altercation with a security guard.
Lochte also acknowledged that “this was a situation that could and should have been avoided”. Two other swimmers, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, were pulled from their flight on Wednesday and interrogated – and eventually confessed that the story had been fabricated. But two men with guns – security guards at the gas station – approached the auto, brandished their weapons and prevented them from leaving, Bentz said.
In his testimony, Conger told investigators that he described the episode to this mother after arriving back at the athletes’ village and having breakfast with Feigen, the other swimmer involved in the episode.
Ryan Lochte has issued an apology on Twitter and Instagram following the events that occurred on Sunday at the Rio Olympics.
As the scandal over the swimmers grew this week, judges in Brazil sought to prevent the men from leaving the country.
Lochte, Bentz and Conger have returned to the United States, but Feigen remains in Brazil.
On Thursday, Brazilian officials recommended that Lochte and Feigen face charges of false reporting of a crime, a civil police spokesperson said.
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I am grateful for my USA Swimming teammates and the USOC, and appreciate all of the efforts of the IOC, the Rio ’16 Host Committee, 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. “He’s still portraying himself as a victim”.
