U.S. Olympic Swimmers Weren’t Robbed, Fabricated Story

Conger and Bentz were detained by Brazilian police late Wednesday just as they were about to take off from the global airport for home.

Court officials had called for the four swimmers’ passports to be seized, but Lochte already had returned to the United States before authorities could enforce the decision.

USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said late Thursday morning that Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen were scheduling a time and place to meet with authorities.

The United States Olympic Committee has confirmed that two US swimmers who claimed they were with teammate and star Ryan Lochte when he claimed to have been robbed at gunpoint, were removed from their flight home from Rio by Brazilian authorities.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) declined to comment on the video footage.

The removal came amid increasing tension between Brazilian authorities and the American swimmers over their account of the robbery.

Another camera then shows the swimmers in a cab, when security guards arrive.

After days of confusion, the situation escalated late Wednesday night when Conger and Bentz were pulled from a flight at the Rio de Janeiro airport.

Fortunately for Lochte, he is back home safe and sound: if he was still hanging around Rio, the judge’s order would prohibit him from leaving the country while the incident was being investigated.

The police source said that officers were called by the station’s security guard, but by the time they arrived, an agreement had been reached between the owner and the athletes and it was decided charges would not be pressed. He told USA Today that he did not initially report the alleged robbery because “we were afraid we’d get in trouble”. He cocked it, put it to my forehead and said get down, and I was like, I put my hands up.

Lochte’s story changed at the end of a day in which Brazilian authorities pulled two of his teammates who also were part of the group that said it was robbed off a plane to question them. They appear to still have their belongs on them. And investigators say the men don’t seem distraught and are seen joking with each other. His lawyer earlier said he gave police a statement as representatives from the U.S. State Department, U.S. Olympic Committee and the Federal Bureau of Investigation observed.

In an interview Wednesday night with NBC’s Matt Lauer, Lochte stuck to his basic story that he and his teammates were robbed at gunpoint Sunday morning, though he did change a few of the details.

“The surveillance tapes show that there was no violence against the athletes at the gas station”, said Civil Police chief Fernando Veloso at a press conference on the investigation.

Denying the story was made up, Lochte said: “I wouldn’t make up a story like this nor would the others”. Lochte also said the assailant pointed a gun at him rather than putting it to his head.

While he’s medaled often in the Olympic pool, Lochte’s accomplishments have always been overshadowed by teammate Michael Phelps – the most decorated Olympian in history.

Lochte reported that both athletes left a party at Club France, one of the hospitality houses set up for the Olympics, around 4 am on Sunday. Lochte won a gold in Rio in a relay race alongside Phelps.