International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said an investigatory panel will “hear all sides” regarding the gas station ordeal, which linked the American swimmers with vandalism and subsequent claims they were robbed at gunpoint – claims that have since been rejected by Rio police.
Advertisement
“If this was a Brazilian or it wasn’t the Olympics, no one would have anxious about it”, said Janete Carvalho, 54, an English teacher, said on the streets of downtown Rio.
The charity, the Reaction Institute, said Feigen’s lawyer had already contacted them about making the payment.
“Instead, it’s become this worldwide incidents, and it’s embarrassing for USOC, it’s embarrassing for Ryan Lochte, it’s embarrassing for his three teammates”, said Nancy Armour, USA Today sports columnist.
Lochte initially said they were pulled over and robbed by men posing as police officers, and one of the armed men put a gun against his forehead.
“I want to offer a honest apology to the United States Olympic Committee, USA Swimming, the extraordinary women and men of Team USA, and the University of Georgia”, Bentz said in the statement.
Lochte then pulled a metal advertisement anchored to a wall to the ground, Bentz said. “I then suggested to everyone that we needed to leave the area and we returned to the taxi”.
Bentz’s apology follows one from Lochte earlier in the day on social media.
When asked what he was feeling when he saw his teammates taken off a plane and held back in Brazil, Lochte responded by saying he was “hurt”. Bentz said a security guard flashed a badge at him and drew his handgun. “Regardless of the worldwide attention that this case has had and the false testimony, I say that from a legal point of view. the guards carried out a crime”. I yelled to them to come back toward us and they complied. Then the second guard drew his weapon and both guards pointed their guns at us and yelled at us to sit on a nearby sidewalk.
Bentz said he and Conger had tried to restrain Lochte, and also said he and Feigen had paid the guards about $50 “in order to leave”.
The USOC said that Conger and Bentz left Rio Thursday after giving statements to authorities and getting their passports back.
“There was no restroom inside [the gas station], so we foolishly relieved ourselves on the backside of the building behind some bushes”, he said in a statement. I also believe some scenes have been skipped over.
After security video emerged of the incident, the U.S. Olympic Committee admitted an act of vandalism had taken place and apologised for the swimmers’ behaviour.
“I want to apologize. for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning, and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics”, Lochte said in a statement posted on Twitter.
Bentz and Conger were jeered by angry Brazilians shouting “liar” and “fake” before leaving for Rio airport on Thursday.
Lochte, who left for the USA the day after the incident, has also apologised.
Advertisement
Two of the other swimmers, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, had arrived in the U.S. early on Friday after being held in Brazil to testify. A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered Lochte and Feigen to surrender their passports and not leave the country while it was determined whether the Americans had made a false police report.
