Ryan Lochte Lied About Swimmers Becoming Held at Gunpoint

In 2016, Ryan Lochte claimed he and fellow Staff United states swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen were robbed at gunpoint at a fuel station in Brazil all through the Rio Video games. He was admittedly intoxicated at the time, as he’d been celebrating their achieve.

Immediately just after returning to the Olympic Village, Lochte informed the tale to his mother, who later on told a reporter the swimmer was robbed at gunpoint. Lochte then spoke to the media himself.

“They pulled us over,” he told Billy Bush for Now. “They pulled out their guns. They advised the other swimmers to get down on the ground—they bought down on the floor. I refused. I was like, ‘We didn’t do anything completely wrong, so I am not receiving down on the floor.'”

“Then the dude pulled out his gun, he cocked it, set it to my forehead and he reported, ‘Go down,'” Lochte ongoing. “I put my arms up. I was like, ‘Whatever.’ He took our income. He took my wallet.”

The 12-time medalist doubled-down on his story. Even so, matters did not add up. According to NBC Information, police refuted Lochte’s tale and stated he, Bentz, Conger and Feigen had been approached by fuel station safety guards who took out their guns and told them to invest for damages the Olympians allegedly triggered.

Eventually, Lochte admitted he “overexaggerated” his story—saying that while a gun was drawn it wasn’t at his head. 

“I created a error, and I absolutely discovered from this,” he instructed Matt Lauer for NBC Information. “I’m just genuinely sorry.”

Lochte received a 10-month swimming opposition suspension.