Ryan Lochte sorry for giving false account of Rio 'robbery'
Saturday 20 August 2016 00:11, UK
American swimmer Ryan Lochte has apologised for giving a misleading account of a late-night incident at Rio 2016.
Lochte claimed he and team-mates Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen were robbed at gunpoint in the early hours of Sunday by men posing as police officers.
Police later uncovered CCTV footage showing armed security guards at a petrol station had intervened after one of the four athletes had damaged a bathroom.
The United States Olympic Committee acknowledged the real version of events in a statement on Friday, while Feigen has been ordered to pay around £8,000 to a local charity.
Lochte, Conger, Bentz and Feigen are all facing disciplinary proceedings from the International Olympic Committee even though Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medallist and the best-known of the four, issued a statement of his own:
"I want to apologise for my behaviour last weekend," he said. "For not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating at the Olympics.
"It's traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country - with a language barrier - and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave.
"But regardless of the behaviour of anyone else that night I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself, and for that I am sorry to my team-mates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors and the hosts of this great event."
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set up a disciplinary commission to deal with the case.
