Ryan Lochte and fellow USA swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen last week claimed they were robbed at gunpoint, which drew huge media attention and raised concerns over the Games’ security which had always been criticized, reports Xinhua news agency.
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On Thursday, Brazilian Chief of Civil Police Fernando Veloso stated that Lochte’s story had been proven false.
They said one of the swimmers had vandalised a gas station after the group stopped the taxi there to use a bathroom.
Developments came rapidly after police asserted that the swimmers had not been robbed.
“I wanted to apologize for my behavior last weekend – 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”, he said Friday on Instagram.
Lochte said it was “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”.
Meanwhile Jack Feigin, the last of the swimmers still in Rio, had a hearing with a judge Friday morning where he agreed to donate nearly $11,000 to a charity that brings sports to low-income communities in Brazil.
“I gave them what I had in my wallet, which was a $20 bill, and Jimmy gave them 100 reals, which is about $50 in total”, Bentz said. The institute brings sports to low-income communities and helped train Brazilian gold medallist judoka Rafaela Silva. His passport would be released upon providing a receipt.
Lochte, Bentz and Conger have returned to the United States, but Feigen remains in Brazil.
U.S. Swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz arrive on an overnight flight from Brazil to Miami in Miami, in this still frame taken from video dated August 19, 2016.
Bentz and Conger said they were not robbed in revised testimony given to police hours before their departure, senior Rio police officer Alexandre Braga told Reuters.
The 32-year-old, one of America’s most decorated swimmers and the most outspoken about the incident, had originally said he, Feigen and two other team mates, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, were stopped in a taxi on the way back from a party by gunmen posing as police who stole $400 from them. I refused, I was like we didn’t do anything wrong, so – I’m not getting down on the ground.
They tracked down witnesses, including three of Lochte’s fellow swimmers at the scene, reviewed surveillance tapes and made a ruling on whether the accounts looked or sounded like a robbery. They had fun. They made a mistake. “Tomorrow, start training for Tokyo”.
Many Brazilians have reacted angrily to the news that the swimmers fabricated their story, but others have said it shows the underlying problems in their crime-ridden nation.
“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 incident followed a series of muggings and armed robberies of high-profile athletes and visitors in Rio, including two government ministers.
“I believe that all of us need to accept the apologies of the US Olympic Committee, the same way our Olympic Committee would have had to apologize if the assault had occurred”.
“On behalf of the United States Olympic Committee, we apologize to our hosts in Rio and the people of Brazil for this distracting ordeal in the midst of what should rightly be a celebration of excellence”, a committee statement said. Speedo has said it is following the situation and does not comment on ongoing legal investigations.
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The IOC has set up a disciplinary commission for USA swimmer Ryan Lochte and his three teammates after they were found to have lied about an armed robbery during the Rio Olympics, an IOC official told Reuters on Friday. The swimmers handed over about $50 to pay for the damage they had done.
