You’d never know that the United States was absolutely dominating the Rio Olympic Games medal count with all the controversy surrounding the now debunked American swimmer Ryan Lochte. Dummy.
On Thursday, Rio authorities announced that the swimmer had lied about prior claims that he and three other American athletes were robbed at gunpoint. Originally, Lochte claimed that several men disguised as police officers (http://time.com/4458405/ryan-lochte-rio-robbery-olympics/) pulled over their taxi and took their wallets, leaving the athletes cellphone and credentials … for some reason. After authorities were unable to find the alleged cab driver taxiing the athletes around, they discovered the real cause of Lochte’s financial problems.
According to the authorities, Lochte and the three other swimmers, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen, have been accused of vandalizing a gas station bathroom and then trying to cover it up by paying for the damage on the spot.
Rio de Janeiro Police Chief Fernando Veloso called for the athletes to publicly apologize in the wake of the news, saying that their crime sullied the name of Rio. Ultimately, Lochte has admitted his guilt, saying that the cover up happened because, “we were afraid we’d get in trouble.”
Ryan Lochte won the gold medal in the Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay at this year’s Rio Games. Now, he faces charges from Rio authorities.
