In a stark reminder of what is really going on in Rio, Ryan Lochte along with three other US swimmers were allegedly robbed. Just hours after huge victories from Team USA swimming, including Michael Phelps final competition, team members had the scary experience of their lives. Allegedly, Lochte was in a taxi with Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and Jimmy Fiegen headed to a birthday party when it was stopped by armed guards who puts guns to their heads. All four athletes were left unharmed, but had their wallets stolen. It is unclear if the guards were actual police or just wearing disguises.
Lochte called his mother Ileana who spoke with USA Today about her son’s ordeal. She told them, “I think they’re all shaken up. There were a few of them. No, they were just, they just took their wallets and basically that was it.” The International Olympic Committee initially tried to deny reports, calling them “absolutely not true” partly because the IOC spoke with the United States Olympic Committee after they spoke with Lochte who denied anything occurred. Lochte did later confirm to NBC’s Billy Bush that he was in fact robbed.
Brazilian swimmer and friend of Lochte, Thiago Pereira, was at the party and confirmed the incident through his spokesperson Flavio Perez. Perez said in a statement,
Thiago Pereira and his wife Gabriela Pauletti were in Club France, the French house in Brazil, and they were celebrating the birthday of a friend in common. Lochte was also in the same place, commemorating the same birthday. Ryan and Thiago are friends. Thiago and his wife left earlier, they left alone, the two of them. Thiago and his wife went back to their hotel. Then Thiago, on finding out what happened, called Ryan. Ryan is well, and Thiago said that the robbery, according to Ryan, was in the taxi. The taxi was robbed.
It seems difficult to believe that Lochte’s mother would lie about a situation like that involving her son. Likely, he just did not want to make a big deal out of the incident because no one got injured. It is harder to believe that if the top athletes in the world are not safe in a city how safe are regular citizens?
[…] next morning, Locate’s mother told USA Today that her son and the other US swimmers were allegedly robbed at gun point after armed guards surrounded the taxi they were […]