Police discredit Ryan Lochte’s robbery story, say swimmers owe Rio an apology

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RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian police Thursday accused swimming star Ryan Lochte of fabricating his story of being held up along with three of his U.S. Olympic teammates by armed assailants. But the authorities also acknowledged a gun was pulled on the foursome by a security guard early Sunday at a Rio de Janeiro gas station, where the swimmers apparently damaged property at the end of a late-night excursion.

 

The police statement contradicting Lochte’s account was later corroborated by a lawyer who represented two of Lochte’s fellow U.S. swimmers. The episode threatened to overshadow the Rio Games and what has been a stellar performance by U.S. athletes, led by the American swimming team that ended its competition here last week.

 

“No robbery was committed against these athletes,” Fernando Veloso, chief of the Rio de Janeiro police investigative division, said during a packed news conference Thursday afternoon. “They were not victims of the crimes they claimed.”