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US Swimmer to donate $11000 to charity in Brazil amid robbery claims

Brazilian authorities have accused Feigen and fellow USA swimmer, Ryan Lochte, of inventing the story in order to hide an act of vandalism at a petrol station following a night out in the city with teammates Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger.

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“It’s 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…” writes the swimmer.

The 32-year-old Lochte, one of America’s most decorated swimmers, had originally said that he, Jimmy Feigen and two other team mates, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, were stopped in a taxi on the way back from a party by gunmen posing as police who stole $400 from them.

Bentz said the swimmers tried to leave the station, having sensed that they could get into trouble after employees witnessed their behaviour, police said.

“They stopped at a gas station to use the restroom, where one of the athletes committed an act of vandalism”.

Security video released by police shows the swimmers in an argument with staff at the Shell service station.

The story turned out not to be true and Lochte apologized earlier on Friday.

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.

International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press the panel was formed Friday to look into the behavior of Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen.

Having paid, Blackmun said, they were permitted to leave.

Fernando Deluz, a DJ who was passing by the gas station, said he translated for the swimmers, none of whom speak Portuguese, in an attempt to prevent the situation from escalating. Police removed Bentz and Conger from their plane as it prepared to depart Rio, but after providing their testimony, the two men were allowed to fly home to the U.S.

Feigen, the last of the group left in Rio, agreed with prosecutors on Friday to donate 35,000 real [£8,200, $10,800] to a sports charity in exchange for being allowed to retrieve his confiscated passport and return to the US. There has already been too much said and too many valuable resources dedicated to what happened last weekend, so I hope we spend our time celebrating the great stories and performances of these Games and look ahead to celebrating future successes.

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Their behavior was also blasted by the head of USA Swimming, Chuck Wielgus.

Brazilian police say U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte lied about being robbed at gunpoint