United States gold medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte on Friday apologised for his behaviour at the Olympics after being accused by Brazilian police of inventing a story about an armed robbery to cover for some bad behavior at a gas station.
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He accepted responsibility for his role in “taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics”.
But according to Bentz, the four swimmers used a translator’s help to determine what the armed men, who he described as “security guards”, were saying, and the only money they were demanding was repayment for the damages that had just been caused to the gas station.
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.
The lawyer for the fourth United States of America swimmer, James Feigen, said the athlete would make a $10,800 “donation” and leave Brazil later in the day. Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz had their passports released and were allowed to leave Brazil after being questioned by investigators. Another person stepped in to intervene between the athletes and the guards, and the athletes left money, police said.
Lochte issued an apology on Friday and Feigen agreed to pay 35,000 reais ($11,000) to a charity.
Ryan Lochte has issued an apology on Twitter and Instagram following the events that occurred on Sunday at the Rio Olympics. He then said the robber cocked the gun and held it to his head, so Lochte got onto the ground.
Police in Brazil said there is no evidence of a robbery and that Lochte and his teammates made up the story.
The statement posted on Facebook said that the decision was made in a court appearance to answer police accusations that Feigen and fellow swimmer Ryan Lochte had made false claims that they were robbed. During a press conference on Thursday, Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso said that the men had actually vandalized the gas station and that “there was no robbery”.
Lochte, who’d never publicly mentioned the vandalism or argument with gas station staff, suggested in his statement that he still viewed himself as a victim, but that it didn’t excuse how he acted.
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Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso told AP that the athletes paid 100 Brazilian reals, or about $33, and $20 in USA money to leave the gas station that night.
