American swimmers leave Rio, but robbery scandal not over

Bentz and Conger – who were taken off a plane at Tom Jobim International Airport on Wednesday and whose passports were seized by police who wanted answers about a reported robbery – gave statements to the authorities and have now been allowed to leave Rio de Janeiro, Blackmun said late Thursday.

America’s official Olympic body acknowledged that one of its athletes had committed an act of vandalism in a petrol station bathroom and the swimmers had handed over money to security staff after they had demanded payment for the damage in the early hours of Sunday.

According to the reports, Costa said Feigen agreed to donate 35,000 Reals to Reaction Institute, a Brazilian charity. He said that under Brazilian law, a donation can be made to avoid criminal prosecution for minor offenses, but did not say what charge was being contemplated.

The United States Olympic Committee has apologised for the conduct of four U.S. swimmers involved in an incident at a petrol station in Rio.

A Brazilian judge issued an order on Wednesday to prevent their team mates Ryan Lochte and James Feigen from leaving Brazil while police investigate their account of how the four USA swimmers were robbed at gunpoint on Sunday.

Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were given back their confiscated passports and “recently departed Rio”, US Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement. Police have said authorities are 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.

Andrada said 2.5 percent of the mentions on the @Rio2016 Twitter account since the beginning of the games have been about the Lochte situation.

On Thursday, Australia’s Olympic team said swimmer Josh Palmer was out drinking this week when he was forced by a thief to withdraw $1,000 from a cash machine.

A few of the swimmers then pushed on the door and broke it. Instead, Brazilian police said the men, while intoxicated, vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by armed guards before they paid for the damage and left.

Two of the four, Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen, claimed the group was robbed at gunpoint after their taxi was stopped.

The USOC said on Thursday that the three swimmers who remain in Brazil would be helping police with their investigation. The attorney, Jeff Ostrow, had insisted the swimmer had nothing to gain by making the story up.

At one point, a security guard pulled a firearm after one swimmer behaved erratically, Veloso said, adding that the guard had not over-reacted: “From the moment the gun was pulled out, they calmed down”.

Rio Games organisers on Thursday defended the four swimmers, saying they were just kids who made a mistake. Brazilians are working with U.S. authorities to get Lochte interviewed, Veloso said. Veloso said the guards would have been justified in drawing their weapons because the athletes “were conducting themselves in a violent way”. After a discussion, they did pay him an unknown amount of money and then left.

They had testified about the incident earlier in the day, and Brazilians chanted “liar” as they left the police building.

He says his client, who won his sixth Olympic gold medal in the pool in Rio, has been cooperative with authorities and has not been asked again for assistance.