Jimmy Feigen was on his way back to the United States on Friday night after having his passport returned while another one of the US swimmers who returned home has apologized and given a detailed account of the incident at the gas station.
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Gunnar Bentz, one of the US Olympic swimmers who was pulled off a plane in Rio by the police, is back in the States and has released a statement detailing his recollection of the events the night of the gas station incident in Rio. He initially had said he was a victim of an armed robbery – and he still says it was a situation in which a stranger pointed a gun at him and demanded money.
“That’s why I’m taking full responsibility for it, because I over-exaggerated that story and if I had never done that, we wouldn’t be in this mess”, Lochte said in an interview with NBC television. Two of the four athletes, Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen, on Sunday, claimed the group was robbed of $400 at the gas station after their taxi was stopped by armed gunmen posing as a policemen.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said Friday he felt “pity and contempt” for the swimmers, saying he accepted the United States committee’s apology.
Conger also said that he has been truthful in his statements to officials on what happened in the early morning hours of August 14. In a detailed account, he said that Lochte “pulled to the ground a framed metal advertisement that was loosely anchored to the brick wall” and claimed “Ryan and the security guards had a heated verbal exchange” but said no guns were pulled.
In a statement released on social media, the 12-time Olympic medallist said he wanted to say sorry for his behaviour. Lochte issued an apology on Friday and Feigen agreed to pay 35,000 reais ($11,000) to a charity.
Ostrow said he doesn’t know how the vandalism took place or if Lochte was responsible for it, but only that the swimmers paid about $20 in compensation before being allowed to leave the gas station.
“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. The apologies have been more than accepted”, he said.
The three swimmers kept in Brazil retracted the mugging story in interviews with police on Thursday.
The Associated Press on Thursday reported that Conger told police that Lochte fabricated the robbery narrative.
The other three USA swimmers who were detained in Brazil, however, were either home or on their way back to the United States by Friday.
As a result of the discrepancies, two of Lochte’s fellow swimmers were pulled from their flights back to the USA for further questioning, and a third has agreed to pay about $11,000 to a Brazilian charity in exchange for permission to leave the country.
After paying about $50 in compensation for the damage to the station, they left unharmed and returned to the athletes’ Village. One pulled a gun on Lochte after he became angrily confrontational, Veloso said.
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Atlanta-based swimming coach Jason Turcotte, who trained Bentz in high school at the Dynamo Swim Club, said he and his swimmers have continued to support the embattled Olympian medalist throughout what he believes is a scandal that has been blown out of proportion.
