United States gold medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte on Friday apologised for his behaviour at the Olympics after being accused by Brazilian police of inventing a story about an armed robbery to cover for some bad behavior at a gas station.
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It’s unclear exactly what Lochte will say during the interview, which comes a day after the 12-time Olympic medalist posted an apology on his Instagram account about the incident.
But Lochte said he should have handled himself more responsibly.
Brazilian police have said Lochte lied by saying he and three other swimmers were robbed. A Brazilian police officer told ABC News “one of the swimmers was seen on CCTV footage breaking down the door to the bathroom at [a] gas station and fighting with a security guard”.
Upon his return to the US, Lochte emphatically denied claims he made the story up.
Ryan Lochte Apologizes “For Not Being More Careful” in Explaining “Traumatic” Rio In … “There was no robbery as the swimmers described it”, civil police chief Fernando Veloso told a news conference.
A poster showing a likeness of American swimmer Ryan Lochte at a stadium in Rio.
According to USA Today’s Christine Brennan, an apology was the only way for Lochte to avoid a lifetime ban by USA Swimming, the sport’s governing body in this country.
“I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned some valuable lessons”, Lochte said in the statement. As Brazilian police investigated his robbery claim, and eventually held his teammates for questioning while they sorted out his story, he had tweeted he meant to dye it back.
When investigating the now known to be false claims police grew suspicious after the swimmers – Gunnar Bentz, 20, Jack Conger, 21, Jimmy Feign, 26, and Lochte – were unable to provide key details about the incident.
Lochte’s statement – which doesn’t acknowledge contradictions between the now-accepted version of events and what Lochte’s lawyer earlier this week called “a witness statement under oath” that the swimmer gave to police in claiming a robbery – stops well short of the tone struck by other USA officials. Though Brazilian police mentioned one of the swimmers had been more confrontational than the others, they did not identify who that was.
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The US Olympic Committee issued an apology to the city of Rio and its citizens. And that he should have been more careful and candid in how he described events, but still insists that being out late at night and having a gun pointed at him was “traumatic”.
