There were also reports from global media that the swimmers broke the door of the bathroom. That decision, according to USA Today’s Christine Brennan, is still forthcoming.
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In a column in the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper, columnist Guga Chacra said it was a case of a “douchebag and his three drunken friends creating havoc at a gas station and then telling the world that they were robbed”.
Ryan Lochte is losing all his endorsements after he admitted to making up a story about being robbed at gunpoint while at the 2016 Olympics.
August 18: Brazilian authorities report surveillance footage shows one of the swimmers breaking down a restroom door and fighting with security guards. He also claims, contrary to Brentz’s report, that one of the guards pulled a gun on Lochte only after he became angrily confrontational and that there was no evidence that the guard’s actions were unreasonable.
“That’s why I’m taking full responsibility for it”, Lochte said of his false robbery story.
“It was also so fast, and what I wanted was to resolve the situation”.
“If it hadn’t been for wanting to resolve that, if I hadn’t involved myself, I thought – the police chief told me, ‘Man, if you hadn’t gone there in that moment, a tragedy could have occurred'”.
Lochte also added that he was “still intoxicated” in an interview with NBC’s Billy Bush the morning after the incident. “They lowered the guns, and I used hand gestures to ask if it was OK to leave, and they said yes”, his statement said. Authorities quickly discovered that what had actually happened was that the swimmers had vandalized a local gas station, and came up with the story to avoid getting into trouble.
Lochte reportedly got furious when he and his three companions found the door of a toilet that they had wanted to use was locked.
“We all understand they let down our athletes and they let down Americans, and they really let down our hosts in Rio”, Blackmun said.
U.S. swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger have been released by Brazilian authorities and allowed to return to the United States after it emerged they had lied about being robbed. Speedo will make a donation of $ 50,000 – a sum that would touch the swimmer – to Save the Children, which works particularly among Brazilian children.
Ryan Lochte may finally be starting to feel the effects of his lie about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio.
“We can not condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for”, Speedo said in a statement.
Syneron-Candela, parent company of Gentle Hair Removal, was the third to cut ties Monday, saying in a statement that it holds its employees “to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners”.
Becoming the first major sponsor to cut ties with Lochte due to the incident, Speedo said that it can not condone Lochte’s behavior which is against the values they stood for.
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Speedo, which signed Lochte to a 10-year deal in 2006, said in a statement that it would end its relationship with the decorated swimmer, who has won 12 Olympic medals, including six golds, while wearing its products.
