The gas station where Rio 2016 Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte told police he and three other swimmers was robbed at gunpoint has become a popular tourist attraction for selfie-hunting locals.
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This time, the US Olympic swimmer claims he did not damage a bathroom at the gas station where the incident took place.
The thing that I told that wasn’t true was having the gun pointing to my forehead and cocked – that was over exaggerated.
Lochte was charged with making a false statement and dropped by major sponsors, but feels too much has been made of his behaviour. I’m never one to dwell on the past.
“We all make mistakes, but they’re rarely given front page scrutiny”, Pine Bros Chief Executive Rider McDowell said in a statement on Thursday.
“We’re just trying to get this over with”, he continued.
He said: “It’s been dragged out way too long”.
He also apologized Tuesday to his mother, who contacted multiple media outlets the morning after the incident, and Feigen, who paid almost $11,000 as a donation before being allowed by Brazilian authorities to leave the country. The media has taken this to a whole new level and I just want to put this behind me and move on and move forward.
“I reached out to Jimmy, saying, ‘I know you had to pay that fine. It is my fault.’ I’m taking full responsibility for this and I will pay that back if he will let me”, Lochte said.
As for why he lied at all, Lochte said he was “still intoxicated”.
Lochte left Brazil shortly after the incident. As previously reported, the athlete is joining season 23 of Dancing With the Stars and is partnered with returning pro Cheryl Burke.
Lochte does admit to pulling down a poster at the gas station, and said they paid the owners back for that. “I’m going to treat this like sort of going into the Olympics”.
“Like I said, I did lie about that one part”.
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Watch Lochte on GMA in the video above.
