Ryan Lochte says he is not lying about being robbed at gunpoint at a gas station in Brazil early Sunday morning.
As conflicting stories continue to swirl about what actually happened with Lochte and his three U.S. swimming teammates, sources close to the six-time gold medalist tell TMZ the athletes were forced to get out of a cab and hand money over by men who pointed guns at them.
According to TMZ, Lochte mistook the security guards for police officers, which is why he initially claimed he was robbed at gunpoint by men posing as police. The surveillance footage that was released from the incident (watch it here) was edited, and Lochte’s camp claims three important minutes are missing during which the swimmers were coerced out of the cab at gunpoint.
While a previous report claimed a security officer had a gun but did not brandish it, a police official told The Associated Press on Thursday that two security guards did, in fact, point their guns at the four swimmers.
BREAKING: Brazil police official: 2 security guards pointed guns at US Olympic swimmers during gas station confrontation.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 18, 2016
If that’s the case, you can see why Lochte said he was not lying. However, it’s hard to imagine he did not embellish and leave out important details given all we have heard. When he first told the story, Lochte claimed the cab he and his teammates were riding in was pulled over by armed robbers. Even his friends admitted to TMZ that Lochte lying about that is a “problem.”
It’s hard to separate fact from fiction at this point. That said, when you read what the swimmers allegedly did at the gas station, it’s easy to envision a situation in which they may have been extorted — at gunpoint — for money. Again, that doesn’t mean Lochte was being truthful. He clearly wanted the incident to sound like a random crime act.
