The IOC has set up a disciplinary commission for US 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.
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However, Rio police spotted inconsistencies in their initial statements and, following an investigation, civil police chief Fernando Veloso told a press conference that Lochte had lied to cover up a weird episode at a petrol station and the presence of two women the group had met at the party who were in a second taxi.
Blackmun said that while USA officials haven’t seen the formal statements made by Bentz and Conger, who were with swimming star Ryan Lochte last weekend when Lochte claimed they were robbed at gunpoint after a late-night party, he understands that Bentz and Conger’s account matches what Rio police said earlier Thursday: that the robbery story was a fabrication. He says he should have been more “careful and candid” about how he described what happened.
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. The two were taken off their flight from Brazil to the US on Wednesday by local authorities amid an investigation into a reported robbery targeting Ryan Lochte and his teammates.
In revised testimony that news site G1 had access to, Bentz and Conger said they were not robbed.
The incident, for which the U.S. Olympic Committee apologised late on Thursday, Aug. 18, has embarrassed the host city, angered the police and government and dominated news coverage of South America’s first Olympics.
Police said one of the swimmers had vandalised a gas station after the group stopped the taxi there to use a bathroom.
USA tabloid press dubbed him “The Ugly American” and “The Lochte Mess Monster”, turning on the once beloved champion and saying his behaviour played into the worst stereotypes of Americans overseas.
Police say once the payment goes through and Feigen shows a receipt to the judge, he’ll be free to leave.
On Wednesday night, Conger and Bentz were pulled off a plane bound for the United States and told they were barred from leaving Brazil until they gave a statement to police.
Conger and Bentz were expected to speak with police.
In Miami, the two swimmers caught a connecting flight, walking through the airport in matching backpacks, a Reuters witness said.
A spokesman for the local organizers of the Rio Games said they “accept and appreciate” Lochte’s apology.
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The USOC apologised “to our hosts in Rio and the people of Brazil”, adding: “The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable”.
