In his apology, Lochte made no reference to the vandalism, saying “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 and demand money to let you leave”.
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United States swimmer Ryan Lochte has released a statement apologising for his role in a drunken incident at the Rio Olympic which initially saw him and three teammates tell police that they’d been robbed at gunpoint.
Lochte, together with fellow USA swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen, are accused of having fabricated a story about being robbed by gunmen posing as policemen. Instead of being robbed, the men actually got into a fight at a gas station, and did some meaningful damage to it, which led to them making up the robbery story to try to save face. The swimmers did reportedly pay the guard after a bystander translated between the swimmers and the security guard.
The 12-time Olympic medalist said he accepted responsibility for his role in it and had “learned some valuable lessons”. Brazilian police recommended charges be filed against Feigen and Lochte for false reporting of a crime and a judge ordered the seizure of the swimmers’ passports earlier this week. He said a gun was pointed inches from him, not at his forehead, as he had told the network on Sunday.
Lochte and fellow swimmer Jimmy Feigen claimed they had been held up at gunpoint and robbed while returning to the Olympic village early Sunday.
“Two men, whom I believe to have been security guards, then instructed us to exit the vehicle. The mentions around this case were 2.5 percent of the total mentions we had since the beginning of the Games, so it’s clear the Brazilian population felt humiliated by the early part of the issue”, he said.
Ryan Lochte is saying sorry.
In the interview, however, Lochte still maintains that employees at the gas station demanded money at gunpoint.
Before leaving Brazil, Feigen entered a plea bargain with police to avoid prosecution.
Brazilian authorities said during a previous news conference they believe the weapon was used to maintain control of the situation, describing the athletes’ behavior as drunken and disorderly at times.
USA Swimming suspended swimmer Troy Dalbey after an incident at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, in which he and a teammate took an $800 marble lion’s head statue from a hotel.
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Those consequences might include action by the national governing body.
