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.
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“I should have been more much more responsible and how I handled myself and for that I’m sorry to my teammates my fans my fellow competitors my sponsors and the hosts of this great event”, he added.
A police official said the swimmers arrived at the gas station early Sunday and one of them tried to open the locked door of an outside bathroom to no avail, upon which a few of the athletes pushed together and cracked it open, prompting a confrontation with security guard at the station.
The 32-year-old Lochte, Bentz and Conger have returned to the United States, while Feigen was still in Brazil on Friday morning.
Conger said in a news release that he “deeply” regretted the “trouble and embarrassment this event has brought to the people of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, and the distraction it has caused from the achievements of my fellow Olympians”.
“No robbery was committed against these athletes”.
Bentz and Conger answered questions for several hours at a Rio police station Thursday before flying out. He said that under Brazilian law, a donation can be made to avoid criminal prosecution for minor offenses, but did not say what charge was being contemplated. An argument ensued between the athletes and two armed gas station security staff, who displayed their weapons, ordered the athletes from their vehicle and demanded the athletes provide a monetary payment.
“Let me begin by emphasizing that I have been completely truthful in my statements throughout this unfortunate situation, including the information I provided to United States officials before leaving Brazil”, the statement said.
But Rio police said the story was fabricated.
That account is similar to what the chief of Rio’s Civil Police laid out Thursday, when he said, “There was no robbery”.
“We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over”, Lochte told NBC’s “Today” the morning after the incident.
The debacle prompted both wild speculation and social media mockery, which quickly turned to scorn after the official account went public. “They did not lie in their statements”.
Michael Phelps finally broke his silence on the Ryan Lochte scandal.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said Friday he felt “pity and contempt” for the US Olympic swimmers involved in muddled reports of a robbery.
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Lochte had already left Rio when the judge’s order was issued.
