Bentz, who is 20 years old, released his statement via the University of Georgia, where he is now a student.
Advertisement
Lochte, who dyed his hair white for the Games and had it turn a light shade of green from the pool, had changed his hair back to its regular shade of brown for the interview, which was conducted in NY.
At that point, Conger and Feigen began to walk away from the taxi and the guard pulled out his gun and held up a badge. “However, I am confident that some video angles have not been shown that would further substantiate my account”, he said in the statement, which was released by the University of Georgia, where he is a student.
In taking responsibility, Lochte nonetheless clung to the threads of his original claim as he described the swimmers’ encounter at a gas station at around 6am Sunday after a long night out.
Lochte said he regretted how the incident had tarnished Rio and the last week of the Olympics. They lowered the guns and I used hand gestures to ask if it was okay to leave and they said yes.
Reports that followed said that the robbery never happened, and Lochte apologized for “not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning”.
“I am very proud to present my country in Olympic competition and this was a situation that could and should have been avoided”.
Lochte said one of the men even pointed a gun to his forehead and robbed the men of their cash. Though Brazilian police mentioned one of the swimmers had been more confrontational than the others, they did not identify who that was. Lochte told NBC News’ Matt Lauer on Wednesday that the swimmers had used a restroom at a gas station and when they got back to their taxi, the driver didn’t move.
Two days after Brazilian authorities tried to prevent Ryan Lochte and other U.S. Olympic swimmers from leaving the country over a fabricated robbery story, Lochte has publicly responded. “It is not representative of what is expected as Olympians, as Americans, as swimmers and as individuals”, Wielgus said in a statement Thursday night. When they realized there was no bathroom inside the gas station, Conger said they walked behind the gas station and urinated outside.
Bentz and Conger were pulled off a return flight to the US earlier this week for further questioning.
Advertisement
Feigen is the only member of the U.S. swimming team who has yet to return to America. The fourth swimmer, Jimmy Feigen, made a deal with a Brazil judge to make a $10,800 payment and be allowed to leave the country later today.
