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Ryan Lochte’s Teammates Have Much Different Accounts Of Rio ‘Robbery’

US gold medalist Ryan Lochte admitted to Brazil’s largest broadcaster over the weekend that he had exaggerated his story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio – but insisted he did not lie.

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And on Saturday, a brunette Lochte - his hair no longer dyed his Rio color of Glacier Freeze Frost Gatorade- told Matt Lauer and, by extension, America, that he took “full responsibility” for what happened in Rio.

“It was my immature behavior”, Lochte said. A preview will air beforehand on NBC Nightly News, and more of the interview will air Monday, August 22 on Today. They did say security guards working at the Shell gas station that they alleged Lochte vandalised had shown a badge and acknowledged that a gun was drawn.

Lochte issued an apology yesterday for “not being more careful and candid” in his recounting of a weekend incident in which he claims to have been robbed at gunpoint in Rio early Sunday morning.

But Lochte admitted that he understood that he was being told that the Americans had to pay for the damages or the police would be called.

“Again, I can not speak to his actions, but Ryan stood up and began to yell at the guards”.

From there, surveillance cameras pretty much tracked Lochte’s every move, catching footage that contradicted a lot of the swimmer’s story.

In fact, Veloso said this week that “they fabricated a story”.

Bentz said the guards confronted them after they had urinated behind some bushes and Lochte tore the metal-framed advertising poster from the wall.

Lochte had originally reported that he and his teammates were robbed in an incident that sparked headlines worldwide. “We were held”, Lochte said.

The Olympian insisted that he was a victim of extortion because he was forced by armed guards to hand over money.

Lauer questioned Lochte’s story in the clip of the interview, asking why if the swimmers were speaking through an impromptu translator that they viewed that as a robbery rather than a settlement. Later Wednesday, Bentz and Conger were pulled off a flight out of Rio.

Lochte returned to the United States during the week and Feigen followed on Friday night, but only after making a deal with a judge to make a $10,800 payment.

Feigen had agreed in an earlier hearing to pay a $11,000 fine for lying.

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On Friday, the 12-time Olympic medalist posted an apology to Instagram and Twitter, writing that he was sorry for his “role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics”.

Ryan Lochte gets blasted by NBC's Al Roker for making up his armed robbery tale in Rio