This is the first time Bentz has spoken out about the incident, and in his detailed account of what went down during the wee hours in Rio, Bentz maintained that he and Jack Conger were bystanders to Lochte’s initial altercation and later fabrication of events.
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They said one of the swimmers had vandalised a gas station after the group stopped the taxi there to use a bathroom.
Still, Lochte’s lawyer said there was more to uncover about the actions of the security guard who forced the swimmers to pay for the damage.
Now that the entire bro-party-turned-overblown-international-incident involving Ryan Lochte and three other USA swimmers appears to have settled out, we’re getting all sides of the night in question.
The International Olympic Committee said Friday it had set up a disciplinary commission to look into the matter.
Prosecutors quickly appealed the penalty as being too low, persuading the judge to suspend the earlier ruling that had given Feigen the green light to leave. The institute brings sports to low-income communities and helped train Brazilian gold medallist judoka Rafaela Silva.
Bentz was never a suspect in the case, according to his statement, but only a witness.
“I want to offer a honest apology to the United States Olympic Committee, USA Swimming, the extraordinary women and men of Team USA, and the University of Georgia”, Bentz said in his statement.
“I can not speak to his actions”, Bentz said of Lochte in the statement released by the University of Georgia, where Bentz is a junior. The day before, Brazilian authorities had pulled them off a USA -bound flight to be interviewed about the incident.
Armed security guards then challenged the swimmers and one of them drew a gun and demanded they sit down, but Lochte then stood up and yelled at one of the guards, Bentz said, adding that he and team mate Jack Conger had tried to restrain him.
The three other swimmers in the auto tried to leave as quickly as possible because they feared Lochte would cause more damage, G1 said, quoting from the revised testimony.
Bentz and Conger talked with authorities on Thursday and were whisked through airport security and got on a plane that night. He said that the focus of the Games should now turn back to the athletes who are still competing as the Games near their conclusion this weekend.
“This was a situation that could and should have been avoided”, Lochte said. I know that investigation is still going. You’re young and this will pass. “I will not take that responsibility lightly”. “Tomorrow, start training for Tokyo”.
In his first public comments since the story unravelled, the 12-time Olympic medallist told NBC he took the blame for what ultimately became a high-profile worldwide incident between the United States and Brazil.
“Brazil doesn’t deserve that”, he said to Globo. “I over-exaggerated what was happening to me”.
The incident followed a series of muggings and armed robberies of high-profile athletes and visitors in Rio, including two government ministers – security scares that detracted from the image Games organizers hoped to portray.
From embarrassing headlines to an apology, U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte says he’s sorry for what he did in Rio.
Early on Friday, Lochte posted a letter of apology on his Twitter account. That account is supported by surveillance video of what took place at the gas station in Rio de Janeiro, Ostrow said.
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That was corroborated by a separate statement that another of the four swimmers present that morning, Jack Conger, also released Friday: “Ryan Lochte removed a poster from a nearby wall”.
