Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Los Angeles Times reports:
Three days after claiming that he and his teammates were robbed at gunpoint, American swimmer Ryan Lochte has tempered his initial, dramatic description of the alleged incident. The 12-time Olympic medalist said earlier this week that one of the robbers pressed a gun to his head. On Wednesday night, he told NBC News the robber merely aimed in his direction.
His story changed at the end of a day in which Brazilian authorities – concerned about inconsistent accounts from the four U.S. swimmers – sought to keep them from leaving the country before they could be questioned further.
Police showed up at the Olympic village in the morning to confiscate the passports of Lochte and Jimmy Feigen but found neither man there. Lochte had already returned to the U.S., they said. Feigen told the San Antonio News-Express that he was still in Brazil, adding: “I can’t talk right now.”
Later, the other two athletes were detained as they attempted to fly home. “We can confirm that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities,” said Patrick Sandusky, a U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman.
More from the BBC:
Mr Lochte and Mr Feigen have told police they left Club France at about 0400 and took a taxi from a nearby petrol station. According to their account, they went straight from the club to the village – a journey of 30 to 40 minutes – with the robbery happening along the way.
But the CCTV footage clocks the swimmers returning to the village at 0656, nearly three hours after they leave the club. Surveillance footage taken as the team returned to Olympic village appears to show the swimmers passing valuables through a metal detector, despite telling police that items had been stolen.
Jimmy Feigen said several robbers were there but that only one had a gun, however Ryan Lochte told Brazilian authorities that there was only one robber who targeted the group. Mr Lochte first claimed that their taxi was pulled over, but later said that the car was already stationary at a petrol station when the robber approached.
From ABC News:
As the police investigation continues into the alleged robbery of U.S. Olympic swimmers in Rio, a Brazilian police source told ABC News that “one of the swimmers was seen on CCTV footage breaking down the door to the bathroom at the gas station and fighting with a security guard” on the night of the incident.
Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte claimed on Sunday that he and three other U.S. swimmers were robbed at about 4 a.m. in a taxi headed for the Olympic Village in Rio.
Lochte told NBC News’ Matt Lauer Wednesday night that the swimmers used a restroom at a gas station and when they got back to their taxi, the driver didn’t move. That’s when two men approached with guns and badges and told them to get out and get down, Lochte said.