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Summary: Brazilian authorities say Ryan Lochte’s robbery story doesn’t add up.
Did Ryan Lochte make up his epic tale of getting robbed at gunpoint? That’s what Rio authorities are saying, and now Lochte’s teammates are detained in Brazil for questioning.
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Lochte had already returned to the United States when the Brazilian authorities issued an order to question the Olympic swimmer, but his teammates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and Jimmy Feigen weren’t so lucky. Bentz and Conger were pulled off their U.S.-bound flight on Wednesday while Feigen was detained.
All men have legal counsel, and the U.S. consul has stated they will provide assistance.
According to Lochte, he and his three teammates were robbed on Sunday morning when a man dressed as a police officer pulled a gun on them and stole their belongings.
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“The guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, ‘Get down,’” Lochte said. “I put my hands up, I was like ‘whatever.’ He took our money, he took my wallet — he left my cell phone, he left my credentials.”
The story at first raised questions about the safety of athletes in the city, but as days passed, Lochte’s story started to unravel. According to authorities, Lochte’s accounted differed from the one his teammate told police, and the timing of his tale didn’t match up with other sources.
Additionally, multiple media outlets stated that a surveillance video from a gas station in Rio de Janeiro appeared to show Lochte, Bentz, Conger, and Feigen damaging property. The swimmers refused to pay for the damage until a security guard brandished a gun and demanded money. Brazilian news outlet O Globo said Lochte and the others had also peed on the gas station and vandalized it.
As of Wednesday, Lochte sticks by his original story and said that he and his teammates were “victims.”
The Associated Press said that Conger and Benz admitted to the police that Lochte’s story was a lie.
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mario Andrada took a surprisingly lax kids-will-be-kids approach to the incident.
“Let’s give these kids a break,” Andrada said. “They had fun. They made a mistake. Life goes on.”
Do you believe Ryan Lochte or the Brazilian authorities? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated
