This whole saga began early Sunday morning in Rio, when Lochte claimed that he and his three U.S. swimming teammates – Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen – were robbed at gunpoint, with Ryan specifically alleging that he had a cocked gun placed to his forehead. He also confirmed that the four were told that they would not be allowed to leave the gas station unless they paid the security guards:”Again, I can not speak to his actions, but Ryan stood up and began to yell at the guards”.
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The U.S. Olympic Committee has now apologized to the people of Brazil and says what these swimmers did is unacceptable.
Conger’s account most similarly matches teammate Gunnar Bentz’s, who released his own statement on Friday.
Speaking on his instagram account, Lochte said: “I want to apologise for my behaviour last weekend”. The Olympic swimmer made his way back to the US on Friday after being held in Brazil to testify.
Ultimately, Bentz said he and Feigen paid the equivalent of about $50. They said, ‘Let’s go, ‘ again, we’ve got to get out of here, ‘ and again the taxi driver didn’t move.
“As we understand it, the four athletes left France House early in the morning of August 14 in a taxi headed to the Olympic Village”, Blackmun said.
Lochte initially said that he, Feigen, Bentz, and Conger were robbed at gunpoint, and that men dressed as police officers took their money – at one point cocking a gun at Lochte’s forehead.
Bentz’s statement also confirms that some of the accusations levied against the four men by Brazilian authorities, such as the fact that they had urinated on the side of the gas station and caused damage to the property, are true.
The decision was made, police said, in a court appearancse to answer accusations that the swimmers had made false claims they were robbed. An argument ensued between the athletes and two armed gas station security staff, who displayed their weapons, ordered the athletes from their vehicle and demanded the athletes provide a monetary payment. Ryan Lochte was with fellow swimmers Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger when the incident happened. But he said the athletes wanted to leave, so they paid 100 Brazilian reals (about Usa $33) and $20 in Usa currency and left.
One of the USA swimmers caught up in a scandal after claims the group had been robbed in Rio has said Ryan Lochte pulled down a poster and yelled at armed guards.
The International Olympic Committee is to start a disciplinary inquiry into United States swimmer Ryan Lochte and three of his teammates. Feigen modified his police statement on Thursday and agreed to pay $11,000 to a Brazilian charity in the hope of securing the release of his passport and avoiding prosecution.
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Bentz began by pointing out that he was not detained in Brazil as a suspect, but rather, as a witness. 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.
