Ryan Lochte issued a statement today addressing the story that he and his teammates were held at gunpoint on August 14th.
Unfortunately, Lochte and the four other American swimmers – Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger, and Gunnar Bentz – fabricated a story that simply didn’t make sense.
And while Lochte was able to escape interrogation (he landed back home in the US as Rio officials began their investigation), his teammates were not so lucky.
Conger and Bentz were taken off a plane that was leaving the country, while as of press time, Feigen’s passport has not yet been returned. In fact, he has to pay nearly $ 11,000 to avoid charges.
Just under an hour ago, Lochte explained himself via a statement on Instagram.
Though he did not admit that he lied, he apologized for letting this whole ordeal spin wildly out of control.
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 and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics.
I waited to share these thoughts until it was confirmed that the legal situation was addressed and it was clear that my teammates would be arriving home safely.
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 behavior 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 teammates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors, and the hosts of this great event.
I am very proud to represent my country in Olympic competition and this was a situation that could and should have been avoided. I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned from valuable lessons.
I am grateful for my USA Swimming teammates and the USOC, and appreciate all of the efforts of the IOC, the Rio ’16 Host Committee, and the people of Brazil who welcomed us to Rio and worked so hard to make sure that these Olympic Games provided a lifetime of great new memories.
There has already been too much said and too many valuable resources dedicated to what happened last weekend, so I hope we spend our time celebrating the great stories and performances of these Games and look ahead to celebrating future successes.
This is a case of too little, too late for many American fans, who were charmed by Lochte’s goofball antics up until this point.
Now he’s nothing more than some overhyped athlete that will do just about anything to avoid being held accountable for his actions.
