RIO DE JANEIRO // American Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Ryan Lochte has apologised for his behaviour in an early-morning incident at a Rio de Janeiro gas station, saying he should have been more “careful and candid” about how he described what happened.
In a lengthy post on Instagram on Friday Mr Lochte apologised for his role in taking the focus away from other Olympic athletes.
“This was a situation that could and should have been avoided,” Lochte said. “I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learnt some valuable lessons.”
The 12-time gold medallist reiterated his view that a stranger pointed a gun at him and demanded money to let him leave. Lochte had called it a robbery; Brazilian police said he and three other swimmers vandalised a gas station bathroom after a night of partying and were confronted by armed security guards.
“Regardless of the behaviour of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that am sorry,” he said. Lochte said.
Lochte had remained silent about the incident after returning to the United States earlier this week, but said he had waited to share his thoughts until the legal situation was addressed and his teammates were allowed to come home.
Two of the other swimmers, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, were on their way home on Friday after being taken off a plane a day earlier to testify about an alleged robbery at the Rio Olympics that Brazilian police said was made up.
The lawyer for a third US swimmer said his client would make a $10,800 payment and leave Brazil later in the day.
The drama surrounding the alleged robbery of American swimmers — and their ever-changing descriptions of it — shocked and angered Brazilians, who said it cast a false negative shadow on their city and their Olympics.
The story has also dominated Olympic headlines, overshadowing the worthy accomplishments of athletes who had trained for years to get to Rio and set records during their performances.
The developments on Friday came hours after police announced that Ryan Lochte and three of his teammates were not held at gunpoint after a night of partying, as he claimed.
Instead, Brazilian police said, the men, while intoxicated, vandalised a petrol station bathroom and were questioned by armed guards before they paid for the damage and left.
The saga was a great embarrassment for the US Olympic team, which had otherwise dominated the games. It also deeply wounded a country eager to prove it could host the first games in South America despite concerns it could not keep athletes and spectators safe from rampant street crime.
“No robbery was committed against these athletes. They were not victims of the crimes they claimed,” civil police chief Fernando Veloso said.
As two of the swimmers, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, were taken through airport security and on to a plane home on Thursday night, their attorney insisted they had nothing to do with Lochte’s story.
Bentz and Conger “were heard only as witnesses. This has to be made very, very clear,” lawyer Sergio Riera said. “They did not make any untruthful testimony. They did not lie in their statements.”
A lawyer for another swimmer, James Feigen, said on Friday that the athlete had reached an agreement with a judge in which he planned to donate 35,000 Brazilian reals (Dh39,656) to an “institution” and leave the country.
Breno Melaragno, the lawyer, said under the agreement, Feigen would make the donation, get his passport back and get out.
Mr Melaragno did not specify where the money would go, but his use of the term “institution” can be taken to mean a charity.
He said that under Brazilian law, a donation can be made to avoid criminal prosecution for minor offences, but did not say what charge was being contemplated.
Although the police investigation appeared complete, the case may be far from settled. Police said they were considering charges of falsely reporting a crime and destruction of property, both of which can carry up to six months in jail or a fine.
Lochte’s lawyers insisted the story was not made up — but neither he nor Lochte commented on the police account after it unfolded.
The saga began when Lochte said he and three other swimmers were held at gunpoint and robbed several hours after the last Olympic swimming races ended. That claim began to unravel when police said that investigators could not find evidence to substantiate it.
Then security video reviewed by police confirmed the athletes vandalised parts of the petrol station, leading to an encounter with employees.
The video showed one of the swimmers pulling a sign off of a wall and dropping it onto the ground. A worker arrived, and others inspected the damage.
Mr Veloso said the swimmers broke a door, a soap dispenser and a mirror.
The swimmers eventually talked with station workers and their cab left. In another sequence, the swimmers appeared to briefly raise their hands while talking to someone and sit down on a kerb.
After a few minutes, the swimmers stood up and appeared to exchange something — perhaps cash, as police said — with one of the men.
The footage does not show a weapon, but a police official said two guards pointed guns at the swimmers.
Mr Veloso said the guards did not use excessive force and would have been justified in drawing their weapons because the athletes “were conducting themselves in a violent way”.
A station employee called police, and the guards and employees tried to get the swimmers and the taxi driver to stay until authorities arrived, some even offering to help interpret between English and Portuguese, Mr Veloso said. But he said the athletes wanted to leave, so they paid 100 Brazilian reals and $20 in US currency and left.
Police said the swimmers were unable to provide key details in early interviews, and said they had been intoxicated.
The police official said officers grew suspicious when security video showed the swimmers returning to the athletes village wearing watches, which would have likely been taken in a robbery.
Bentz and Conger told police that they felt Lochte had lied about the situation in media interviews, according to text of the statements released by Rio police.
"We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over," Lochte told NBC's Today the morning after the incident.
“They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground — they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didn’t do anything wrong, so — I’m not getting down on the ground.
“And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, `Get down,’ and 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 debacle prompted both wild speculation and social media mockery, which quickly turned to scorn after the official account went public. #LochteGate trended on Twitter, with users sharing video footage and posting comments about white privilege and rude Americans.
David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia, said the incident touched a nerve in Brazil because of the country’s history and cases of people committing crimes while impersonating police.
“The story did have some sense of validity but it didn’t bear out and it made them look bad worldwide,” he said.
That outrage was evident on Thursday, as onlookers shouted “liars” and “shameful” at Bentz and Conger as they left a police station where they gave statements.
While he has won medals often, Lochte’s accomplishments have long been overshadowed by teammate Michael Phelps — the most decorated Olympian in history.
Lochte, a 12-time medallist, won a gold in Rio in a relay race alongside Phelps.
Lochte and the other swimmers could face sanctions from USA Swimming, including fines or suspension. The group, as well as Olympic officials, publicly expressed disappointment and said they would further examine the matter.
“We apologise 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,” the US Olympic Committee said.
* Associated Press