Authorities quickly discovered that what had actually happened was that the swimmers had vandalized a local gas station, and came up with the story to avoid getting into trouble.
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Bentz and Conger were removed from a plane on Rio’s runway as they attempted to fly home, before being later allowed to leave Brazil, while Feigen was reported to have made a charitable donation of more than €9,000 to have a charge of falsely reporting a crime dropped, and to get his passport back. Lochte featured prominently in one Ralph Lauren ad campaign that ran on U.S. television during the Olympics, even as the “robbery” story rumbled on in the background.
“Speedo USA today announces the decision to end its sponsorship of Ryan Lochte, ” the company said in a statement, noting that the company will donate $50,000 of Lochte’s fees to Save the Children, to go towards helping Brazilian youths. Ralph Lauren announced it is not renewing its endorsement deal with Lochte after he created a firestorm by allegedly concocting a story that he and three other USA swimmers were robbed at gunpoint in Rio.
It said in a statement that while it had “a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team”, it could not condone behaviour that was counter to its values. “We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience”.
Lochte issued a statement through his public relations firm thanking Speedo USA for its long support. “We hold our employees to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners”.
Lochte said in an e-mail that he respected Speedo’s decision.
Initially, Lochte said he and three teammates – Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen – were robbed after their taxi was pulled over by armed men posing as police just hours after the swimming competition ended in Rio de Janeiro.
Ralph Lauren had taken down references to the gold medalist from its website last week, and on Monday it said it would not renew the Olympic-specific deal, which featured Lochte and other Olympic athletes wearing Ralph Lauren-branded Olympic merchandise. Analysts say he stands to lose millions in endorsements as a result of the incident at the Rio Games.
The United States Olympic Committee and USA Swimming have also indicated that it will slap Lochte with some sort of punishment.
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After issuing a written apology that was widely ridiculed online as half-hearted, Lochte admitted in an interview with NBC aired Saturday that he had “left details out” and “overexaggerated some parts of the story”. He also apologized in an interview with Brazil’s main broadcaster, Globo. “I am proud of the accomplishments we have achieved together”.
