An Olympic athlete has been held up at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro – American Ryan Lochte, along with three other swimmers, was robbed early on Sunday morning by men masquerading as armed police officers.
“We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over,” Lochte said regarding the incident.
“They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground – they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didn’t do anything wrong, so – I’m not getting down on the ground.
“And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, get down and I put my hands up, I was like ‘whatever.’ He took our money, he took my wallet – he left my cellphone, he left my credentials.”
The news first broke through Fox Sports who reported an account provided by Lochte’s mother, who he contacted after the incident.
“I think they’re all shaken up. There were a few of them,” said Lochte’s mother. “No, they were just, they just took their wallets and basically that was it.”
However, there were conflicting early reports regarding the incident, as IOC spokesman Mark Adams originally made the claim that the story was “absolutely not true”, supposedly with the backing of Lochte himself.
BREAKING: IOC spokesman: Report that swimmer Lochte robbed at gunpoint 'absolutely not true,' according to Lochte and USOC.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 14, 2016
Whether that was a futile attempt at a cover up or simply incompetent bungling is something we don’t know, but either way, it’s not a good look for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Confirmation eventually arrived in the form of a statement released by the USOC.
“According to four members of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team (Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen and Ryan Lochte), they left France House early Sunday morning in a taxi headed for the Olympic Village,” the statement read.
“Their taxi was stopped by individuals posing as armed police officers who demanded the athletes money and other personal belongings. All four athletes are safe and cooperating with authorities.”
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