Usa swimmers Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen have been in the centre of controversy after claiming that they had been robbed at gunpoint while in Rio for the Olympic Games before CCTV footage was discovered which suggested that their story may have been fabricated, and that the group were actually forced to pay damages after vandalising a petrol station.
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A “preview” of the interview between Lauer and Lochte can be seen Saturday on “NBC Nightly News”, the network announced.
Star American swimmer Ryan Lochte, who claimed that he was robbed at gunpoint in Rio with three teammates, apologised for his role in an incident that cast an embarrassing shadow.
In this Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016 frame from surveillance video released by Brazil Police, swimmers from the United States Olympic team appear with Ryan Lochte, right, at a gas station during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “Whether you call it a robbery or whether you call it extortion or us just paying for the damages, we don’t know”.
The Today show took to Twitter immediately after the interview on Saturday morning, sharing a photo of Lauer seated across from Lochte.
He asserted that he has been “completely truthful in my statements throughout this unfortunate situation”, which happened early last Sunday morning after a night of celebrating with 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Feigen and Gunnar Bentz.
Speaking to NBC News, Ryan Lochte admitted that his early descriptions of the events that took place were wide of the mark, and that no gun had actually been pointed at his head. After two security guards approached the swimmers’ taxi and instructed them to get out, Bentz says Lochte lost his temper.
“I just wanted to make sure that they were at home safe before I came out and talked”, he added.
According to the statement, translated from Portuguese, Deluz said he was told by a gas station attendant that four men urinated on the floor and broke an advertisement.
The International Olympic Committee said that Evgeniia Kolodko was retroactively disqualified after tests on her stored samples came back positive for two banned substances. After Brazilian police conducted a probe into the incident they found that the swimmers had vandalized a gas station bathroom while intoxicated after attending a party with fellow athletes.
“Although I cooperated with their requests while there was a heated exchange among others, at one point a weapon was pointed at me”.
Brazilian police questioned the narrative and said the athletes weren’t robbed or victims.
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However, police said a day later that there were inconsistencies in the men’s accounts. “I am sorry that my immaturity caused all this ruckus”. While Lochte returned to the US before a Brazilian judge ordered his passport seized, Feigen was forced to pay the equivalent of $10,800 to a Brazilian charity before he could leave Rio on Friday.
