Ryan Lochte on Sunday afternoon explained what happened when he and three other U.S. Olympic swimmers were robbed at gunpoint in Rio.
After conflicting reports swirled about what actually happened, Lochte told TODAY’s Billy Bush that the swimmers were riding in a taxi when it was pulled over by a group of men posing as police. Lochte says a gun was pressed against his forehead when he refused to get on the ground.
“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,” he explained. “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 cell phone, he left my credentials.”
Fortunately, the four swimmers escaped without any injuries. From the way Lochte describes it, the situation could have ended much worse.
The IOC initially denied that the incident took place, but Lochte’s mother said she received a “terrifying” text message from her son on Saturday night. You can read more of what she had to say here.
