“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 wrote on August 19.
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U.S. Olympic gold medal victor Ryan Lochte on Friday apologized for his “behavior” related to a scandal involving Brazilian police but stuck to the narrative that he and his fellow swimmers were robbed. Instead, Brazilian police said the men, while intoxicated, vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by armed guards before they paid for the damage and left.
One of the United States swimmers caught up in a scandal after claims the group had been robbed in Rio has said Ryan Lochte pulled down a poster and yelled at armed guards.
That account is similar to what the chief of Rio’s Civil Police laid out Thursday, when he said, “There was no robbery”.
He said he accepted responsibility for his role in the case and had “learned some valuable lessons”.
“So if I go out all night and I’m dancing or I’m drinking, you know what, I still have a job to do, I still have a goal to do, and that’s the 2016 Olympics”, Lochte said to WTXF. The saga also dominated Olympic headlines, overshadowing worthy accomplishments of athletes who trained for years just to get to Rio and set records during their performances.
“No robbery was committed against these athletes”.
Feigen, along with his teammates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and 12-time Olympic medal victor Ryan Lochte testified to having been attacked in the early hours of Sunday morning while returning to the Olympic Village in a taxi after attending a party.
The fourth, Jimmy Feigen, made a deal with a judge to make a $10,800 (€9,540) payment and leave, his lawyer said. Attorney Breno Melaragno said under the agreement, Feigen will make the donation, get his passport back and depart. Authorities are considering charges of falsely reporting a crime and destruction of property, both of which can carry up to six months in jail or a fine, police said.
In his account of last week’s incident, Gunnar Bentz said the guards confronted them after they had urinated behind bushes near a petrol station.
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USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus issued his own statement tonight, in which he said, “The last five days have been hard for our USA Swimming and United States Olympic families”. Veloso said the guards did not use excessive force and would have been justified in drawing their weapons because the athletes “were conducting themselves in a violent way”. That’s when two men approached with guns and badges and told them to get out and get down, Lochte said. “I yelled to them to come back toward us and they complied”. “Through the interpreter, one of the guards said that we needed to pay them in order to leave”, he recalled. The group, as well as Olympic officials, publicly expressed disappointment.
