Two US Olympic swimmers pulled off flight from Brazil
Two Olympic U.S. swimmers who said they were with 12-time medalist Ryan Lochte during an armed robbery in Rio de Janeiro over the weekend have been pulled off their flight from Brazil.
“We can confirm that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities,” a spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee said, according to The New York Times. “We are gathering further information.”
{mosads}Police in Rio have reportedly been skeptical of the swimmers’ claims that they were held at gunpoint and robbed during the Olympic Games, with a Brazilian judge on Wednesday issuing an order to keep Lochte and another swimmer, James Feigen, from leaving the country.
A U.S. Olympic Committee official said earlier Wednesday that police arrived at the Olympic Village to meet with Lochte and Feigen, but the swimmers had left the village after their competitions ended.
Lochte’s lawyer told media outlets he was back in the U.S. as of Tuesday afternoon, and it was unclear where Feigen was, though CNN reported he is believed to still be in Brazil.
“As part of our standard security protocol, we do not make athlete travel plans public and therefore cannot confirm the athletes’ current location,” the Olympic official said in a statement.
Lochte told NBC News that after leaving a party early Sunday with several other Olympic swimmers in a taxi, they were robbed at gunpoint by suspects who identified themselves as police.
Lochte said the suspects left his cellphone but took his wallet and items from other athletes.
The story quickly grabbed headlines around the world, embarrassing the country and seeming to confirm concerns over the safety of those traveling to the city for the Summer Games.
But the first reports of the incident were jumbled, and speculation intensified when the Daily Mail published a video apparently showing the four swimmers looking relatively relaxed when returning to the Olympic Village after the alleged incident.
The Mail said it showed the athletes carrying high-value possessions such as wallets and phones through security after the reported robbery.