The IOC said late Friday it is investigating the matter, which involved Usa swimmers Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jimmy Feigen and Jack Conger on August 14 – and could sanction the athletes if it finds wrongdoing on their part.
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Lochte had originally said that he, Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen were robbed by men claiming to be police officers, and had guns pointed at them.
Lochte, Conger and Bentz all won gold as part of the 4×200 freestyle relay.
“I was never a suspect in the case from the beginning (Brazilian law enforcement officials saw me only as a witness)”, he said.
But according to Bentz, the four swimmers used a translator’s help to determine what the armed men, who he described as “security guards”, were saying, and the only money they were demanding was repayment for the damages that had just been caused to the gas station.
The USOC confirmed police accusations, including that one of the swimmers had vandalized the gas station after the group stopped there to use the bathroom during a taxi ride back to the Athletes’ Village from a late-night party in the city. Meanwhile, Brazilian authorities pulled Conger and Gunnar Bentz off their return flight and detained them for “several hours” Wednesday night, per Simon Romero and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times. This was when they attempted to leave, but were asked to get out of their taxi by the gas station’s two security guards.
Bentz said Lochte stood up and began to yell at the guards.
Bentz said he felt “compelled” to make certain points before putting the matter behind him.
As for Feigen, his lawyer says he has made an agreement with the court and is donating $10,800 to an “institution”. “After Jack [Conger] and I both tugged at him in an attempt to get him to sit back down, Ryan and the security guards had a heated verbal exchange, but no physical contact was made”, Bentz said.
Lochte issued an apology via social media earlier on Friday but has not provided a revised version of what happened.
Bentz also said there were additional video angles that support his account that may not have been released.
Lochte said in a lengthy post on Instagram Friday that he was apologizing for his role in taking the focus away from other Olympic athletes. “In everything I do, I am representing my family, my country and my school”. Authorities brought three of them in for questioning, Bentz and Conger having been pulled off a plane bound for the United States.
“And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, “Get down” and I put my hands up, I was like “whatever”.
The fourth swimmer, Jimmy Feigen, was ordered to pay nearly $11,000 to charity in order to have his passport returned, according to Alan Gomez and Nancy Armour of USA Today.
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“I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself, and for that am sorry to my teammates”, he said.
