File photo of US swimmer Ryan Lochte (left) [Xinhua]In a humiliating turn of events for the US Olympic Committee, the top US sports body was forced to apologized to Brazil on Thursday night for fabricated claims of a gunpoint robbery by a group of US swimmers in Rio de Janeiro.
The American swimmers were found to have vandalised a gas station restroom, who then tried to pass off the altercation as a robbery, Brazilian police have said.
Following police questioning and analysis of security footage, four American swimmers were found to have lied about a gunpoint robbery. The false allegations had fueled enormous criticism of the Games host city.
“The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team USA or the conduct of the vast majority of its members,” the US Olympic Committee statement said. “We will further review the matter, and any potential consequences for the athletes, when we return to the United States.”
“On behalf of the United States Olympic Committee, we apologize to our hosts in Rio and the people of Brazil for this distracting ordeal in the midst of what should rightly be a celebration of excellence,” it said.
According to the original version of events provided by the US swimmers, Ryan Lochte had said he and his teammates, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz, and Jimmy Feigen were returning to their hotel early Sunday morning when they were robbed at gunpoint by armed robbers posing as police.
All four US athletes have now revised their statements.
Security footage obtained by the police show the four men joking around after the alleged robbery. Brazilian judge Keyla Blanc cited the footage to note that this was not “normal behavior for people who have just been robbed at gunpoint”.
The US Olympic body has now acknowledged that one of its athletes had committed an act of vandalism in a gas station restroom and the swimmers had then handed over money to security staff after they had demanded payment for the damage.
On Thursday, police in Rio de Janeiro recommended that US Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen face charges of false reporting of a crime, a Brazilian police spokesperson said.
Bentz and Conger flew out of Brazil Thursday night after revising their earlier statements to the police.
TBP and Agencies
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