It has been an adventurous week for US swimmer Ryan Lochte. Just days ago, he was celebrating winning a final gold medal alongside Michael Phelps who officially retired from the Olympics. As expected, Lochte and other Team USA swimmers, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, went out to celebrate the win being their events were all over. The 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 in.
The International Olympics Committee along with the United States Olympic Committee said the robbery claims were false and the US Committee even spoke with Lochte who denied anything occurred the previous night. However, Lochte then changed his story telling NBC’s Billy Bush that he and three other US swimmers were robbed at gun point.
As if that was not crazy enough, swimmer Conger and Bentz were questioned today by Brazilian police about the incident and the pair admitted that the story was actually fabricated. The pair were on a plane headed back to Houston, TX before police pulled them off of the plane. Lochte has already returned to the United States before police could interview him. The story change comes after a video was released showing the three swimmers along with swimmer Jimmy Fiegen arriving at a gas station at 6:00AM. There, the four men allegedly destroyed a door leading to the station’s bathroom. An armed security guard asked the group for money for the door. Once the gas station manager arrived, the debt was paid and the swimmers went back to Olympic Village.
This is one of the most embarrassing moments by an Olympic athlete representing the United States. It is clear there was never a robbery nor any crime that occurred against the US athletes. Brazilian Chief of Civil Police Fernando Veloso said during a press conference that it was the athletes behavior that caused the situation. The swimmers handed over twenty US dollars and 100 Real, the Brazilian currency. He admitted that a hand gun was pointed at one of the swimmers who became extremely nervous as he was unable to understand what the guard was saying with the gun pointing at him. Lochte has remained silent since the release of the video, but it is clear he will be unable to remain that way for long. He will owe a lot of apologies to many people and it will be determined how the IOC will handle his future eligibility.
