The saga of American swimmer Ryan Lochte and three teammates during the Rio Olympics has produced a head-spinning series of developments in Brazil and beyond.
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“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. After paying, Feigen’s passport was returned.
Bentz will be a 20-year-old junior majoring in business at Georgia this fall, while Conger will be a 21-year-old senior majoring in corporate communication at Texas.
“Both guards pointed their guns at us and yelled at us to sit on a nearby sidewalk”, Bentz said.
“I am confident that some video angles have not been shown that would further substantiate my account”.
Meanwhile, Lochte, 32, issued an apology on Friday for his “behavior” at a gas station last weekend.
“It is traumatic to be out with your friends in a foreign country – with a language barrier – and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave”, Lochte said in a statement on Twitter, stressing he should have been more responsible”, Lochte wrote.
Lochte today took to social media to apologise for his behaviour, saying he should have been more “careful and candid” about how he described what happened at a service station after partying with his team-mates.
“I like to think we are being represented across the country and I want the people out there representing me to be a good reflection of what a good UGA student is”, said student Amelia Phillips.
Lochte originally claimed that he and three teammates – James Feigen, Jack Conge and Gunnar Bentz – had been robbed at gunpoint by men posing as police, while on their way back to the Olympic Village on Sunday evening. Lochte, has apologized for his actions, but did not recant his allegations of being robbed.
It’s a story that had the UGA campus buzzing Thursday.
They released CCTV images showing them causing damage to the petrol station.
But Lochte’s early account conflicted with Rio police who said the swimmers had a “rowdy gas station confrontation” with security guards.
Lochte and the others then vandalised the area near the bathroom and, according to the manager there, urinated on the walls.
Rio 2016 organizers said moments after Lochte’s statement that it was welcome and that they were prepared to move on.
Bentz told investigators that he saw Lochte giving an account of the night’s events to USA media – Lochte spoke with NBC on Sunday afternoon. The 12-time Olympic medalist also said he regretted taking focus away from those still competing in the Olympics, and thanked Brazil for hosting.
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Feigen is still resolving his charges before returning to the U.S. Feigen was brought before a judge and ordered first to pay 35,000 reais (USD 10,800) to a charitable institution in order to be freed, police confirmed yesterday.
