US Olympic swimmers allowed to leave Brazil after confessing to fabricating mugging incident

Four US Olympic swimmers found themselves in a huge scandal after it became apparent that they had earlier fabricated a mugging incident. The four swimmers, including six gold medal winner, Ryan Lochte, have been in the middle of a media storm in Brazil after they lied about being robbed at gunpoint at a Rio gas station.

When the lie was detected, the US Olympic authorities had to apologize to Brazil on Thursday, after which two of the athletes were allowed to go home. Lochte was already in the US when the truth was discovered.

“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,” US Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement.

Ryan Lochte had earlier told authorities that him and his friends were held at gunpoint and robbed at a Rio gas station. He said that the assailant put a gun to his forehead and asked him to give him his wallet. He said the assailant left with the money but did not take his cards and credentials.

After this account, the Brazilian authorities duly apologized to all the swimmers for this mishap and tightened security around different corners in Rio de Janiero, where the Olympic games are being held.

When different accounts of the same story surfaced from the swimmers, a Brazilian judge issued an order on Wednesday that all swimmers be kept in Brazil while the story is being investigated.

Later, CCTV footage of the gas station showed that no such thing happened. It was later found out that all the swimmers were drunk and they had vandalized the gas station’s bathroom, upon which they were held up by the security guards of the gas stations.

An altercation took place between both the parties upon which one of the guards showed his gun but no violence took place.

Now the Brazilian authorities are seeking an apology from the swimmers.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Aug 19 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.