Lochte, US Swimmers Were in Gas Station Fight: Sources

'Robbery' of Ryan Lochte, teammates in Rio now coming under question
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 18, 2016 10:59 AM CDT
Lochte, US Swimmers Were in Gas Station Fight: Sources
In this Aug. 9, 2016, file photo, Ryan Lochte checks his time after a freestyle relay heat during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.   (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Even more controversial than Ryan Lochte's new hairstyle: the murky story of what happened with him and other US swimmers in Rio. Although Lochte says he was robbed at gunpoint in a taxi over the weekend with Olympic teammates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and Jimmy Feigen, the story got weird when a Brazilian judge first ordered the confiscation of Lochte's and Feigen's passports (Lochte had already gone back to the US), then Brazilian authorities removed Conger and Bentz from a plane back to the States; Feigen is still reportedly in Brazil and also being grilled by authorities. The reason for these developments may now be coming to light: A Brazilian police source tells ABC News that surveillance video exists showing "one of the swimmers" busting down a bathroom door at a Rio gas station and getting into an altercation with a security guard.

The BBC notes inconsistencies in the swimmers' stories, including Lochte initially saying the taxi was pulled over by the alleged robbers (he then changed it to say the taxi was parked at the gas station when they were robbed), while surveillance footage obtained by the Daily Mail appears to show the swimmers returning to the Olympic Village after the supposed robbery and running their valuables—which would have ostensibly been taken if they were robbed—through a metal detector. Meanwhile, IOC spokesman Mario Andrada issued Thursday what Yahoo Sports calls a "strange statement" about the incident, which Deadspin says is now reaching "full-on scandal levels": "Let's give these kids a break. Sometimes you make decisions that you later regret. They had fun, they made a mistake, life goes on." (More Ryan Lochte stories.)

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