“I yelled to them to come back toward us and they complied”.
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Jack Conger, one of the US swimmers involved in the alleged gas station robbery, released an online statement detailing the events of Sunday morning.
U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun says further action is coming in the matter of 12-time swimming medalist Ryan Lochte and his three teammates whose story of a robbery overshadowed the Rio de Janeiro Games.
The AP also mentioned the swimmers involved in the altercation could be subject to punishment under USA Swimming’s code of conduct.
In Lochte’s case, Srour pointed out, police questioned Lochte and fellow US swimmer Jimmy Feigen after reading published reports about the incident.
The USOC said that Conger and Bentz left Rio Thursday after giving statements to authorities and getting their passports back.
Brazilian police said the athletes were actually drunk and had a fight with security guards after vandalizing a gas station bathroom in Rio.
Writing on his Twitter account, Lochte said he was sorry for “not being more careful and candid in how I described the events”.
He apologised to his teammates, fans and fellow competitors and said the incident had helped him learn “valuable lessons”.
“I just interviewed Ryan Lochte”, Globo New York correspondent Felipe Santana tweeted Saturday afternoon.
Speedo said in a statement that it is following the situation closely.
The mattress company Airweave is standing by the swimmer, for now.
The Airweave/Lochte partnership was already scheduled to end this year.
Brazilian police have denounced Lochte’s account as a fabrication created to cover up for the group’s bad behaviour after a night spent partying until dawn, prompting apologies from both Lochte and the U.S. Olympic Committee this week. While the most decorated Olympian in history commands large endorsements with companies such as Under Armour Inc and watchmaker Omega, many Olympic swimmers get by with few sponsorship deals in their career. Prosecutors will decide whether or not they will face charges.
Now Lochte, who returned to the USA before a judge could order him to stay, has issued a statement apologising for his lie, but many are saying it’s not good enough.
“Ryan Lochte and all the other swimmers, I am sure will be suspended”, Brennan told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday night. NBC interviewer Matt Lauer went first.
Police said the men denied there was robbery and Lochte’s account of events, but they have not yet made a public statement. On Friday, he apologized in a statement.
Bentz began by pointing out that he was not detained in Brazil as a suspect, but rather, as a witness.
Prosecutors quickly appealed the penalty as being too low, persuading the judge to suspend the earlier ruling that had given Feigen the green light to leave. Feigen later got his passport back and was cleared to leave after reaching a deal to make a donation of almost $11,000.
Despite the distractions, Olympic organizers were focused on what made the Games in Rio memorable. “Swimming is not watched by most people between Olympics, so it’s a little more hard”.
“We have seen iconic athletes across all the sports”.
E! News was able to get a comment from Phelps as he was leaving a Scottsdale, Arizona Starbucks.
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Bach said the level of competition was “extremely high” with “stunning” athlete performances.
