USOC apologizes for lies told by swimmers
Swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz went to the police station after they had been pulled off a flight to the United States.
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) apologized to Rio de Janeiro and to the Brazilian people for US swimmers' behavior after police revealed that they lied about being robbed.
"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. 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," read USOC statement, released on its official website.
The committee also announced that Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger had provided statements to Brazilian police yesterday (Aug. 18) and their passports were returned. The pair had been pulled off a flight home the previous night.
Lie
The allegations of the robbery case drew strong criticism in the national press. By its Olympics communications director Mário Andrada, the Rio 2016 Committee even apologized to Lochte for the incident. In the hours that followed the event, the US press sought information on the swimmer's condition.
The first version of events was given by swimmer Ryan Lochte to a US newspaper. According to the report, he and his fellows, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen, left a party at Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, in the south zone. After that, they would have been robbed by armed individuals posing as police officers. However, police found some story inconsistencies.
Surveillance footage taken as the team returned to the Olympic Village shows Lochte and his colleagues, who appeared relaxed when arriving in the morning and passing their valuables through a metal detector. On Thursday (18), Conger and Bentz provided statement to police and denied Lochte's assertions. Their statement lasted about four hours. Lochte went back to the United States on Monday (15). James Feigen, the fourth athlete involved in the incident, has not been heard by police yet.
More apologies
Olympic gold medallist Ryan Lochte also apologized on social media today (19): "I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend -- for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning [Sunday, Aug 14] and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics," he wrote.
This story was updated at 15h08 on Aug. 19 to add new information.
Translated by Amarílis Anchieta
Fonte: USOC apologizes for lies told by swimmers
