Bentz says he never made a false statement, he was never a suspect and that some of the events of the evening have been misrepresented in the media.
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So, that’s that! Ryan Lochte took some pics with some teen girls and then vandalized a gas station and lied about it. One teammate later admitted that they stopped at a gas station near Olympic Park and urinated on the side of a building; Lochte allegedly yanked a “framed metal advertisement” from a wall, in addition to reportedly causing damage to a nearby restroom. There were some “heated exchanges” and Conger says a weapon was pointed at him.
The four sportsmen initially said they had been robbed as they travelled back to the athletes’ village after a party on Sunday.
That escalated to Conger and Bentz being removed from their flight at a Rio airport and detained Wednesday night for further questioning about the alleged robbery incident.
Both interviews were taped in Manhattan on Saturday, according to Hiltzik Strategies, the firm run by Matthew Hiltzik, a well-known public relations executive who was retained by Lochte earlier this week.
As a result of the discrepancies, two of Lochte’s fellow swimmers were pulled from their flights back to the US for further questioning, and a third has agreed to pay about $11,000 to a Brazilian charity in exchange for permission to leave the country.
The people of Brazil were disappointed with the four American swimmers who fabricated a story about being mugged during the Olympic Games, the organisers said.
“I regret this situation has drawn attention away from the Olympics, which have been hosted so incredibly well by Brazil and its citizens”, Bentz said.
To speak directly to the people of Brazil and the United States. “I also believe some scenes have been skipped over”, Bentz wrote. The payment is part of a settlement deal with Brazilian authorities.
Conger said that early on Sunday morning he was celebrating with his teammates at the French House in Rio.
“The behaviour of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team USA or the conduct of the vast majority of its members”, Scott Blackmun, chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee, said in a statement.
Michael Phelps finally broke his silence on the Ryan Lochte scandal.
A man who spoke English and Portuguese – Bentz thinks he was a customer – offered to translate.
During their testimony, the two said they asked the taxi driver to stop because Lochte needed to use the bathroom.
PR Newswire passed along the comments from Conger, who called the entire ordeal an “unsettling, humbling and frightening experience”. It’s a reminder that all of us, when we travel and especially when we represent the U.S. in the Olympics, are ambassadors for our country and should be on our best behavior. “Never. There was nothing like that”, Fernando Deluz said Friday during an interview with The Associated Press.
“I am so thankful for the love and support of my family, my friends and my teammates during this time”, Bentz ended his statement. Now, I am looking forward to getting back into my normal routine of school and swimming.
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Meanwhile, Lochte, 32, issued an apology on Friday for his “behavior” at a gas station last weekend.
