U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, 32, issued an apology on Instagram this morning after lying about an armed robbery in Rio to cover his bad behavior and that of his teammates last weekend.
Lochte says he’s sorry for how he behaved and feels bad for taking attention away from other athletes at the games.
“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…” writes the swimmer. He maintains he and his teammates were held at gunpoint - but while the original reports stated they were pulled over in a Rio cab by fake cops and robbed - it now appears they were approached by armed security guards after vandalising a gas station bathroom and then paid them off.
Lochte and two other swimmers are back in the States now.
A fourth teammate, Jimmy Faegan will likely have to pay more than 10 thousand dollars before leaving Brazil this week. Are these athletes getting off with a slap on the wrist? How does a scandal like this make the U.S. look internationally?
Guest:
Aaron Bauer, Rio de Janeiro Correspondent for Around The Rings’ Olympic coverage; he tweets from