Soccer line sport > Blog > Sport > A timeline of Ryan Lochte’s claim that he and 3 USA swimming teammates were robbed in Rio – SB Nation

A timeline of Ryan Lochte’s claim that he and 3 USA swimming teammates were robbed in Rio – SB Nation

Ryan Lochte won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but he’s gained much more attention at the games for what happened out of the pool. Or at least what he says happened. Lochte claimed he and swimming teammates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen were robbed early in the morning of Aug. 14 in Rio. That is only the start of what has become a bizarre story with denials, story changes and even withheld passports adding to the situation.

Even now, days after the initial claim was made, the facts around the situation remain mostly unclear. Lochte has changed his story, although he still claims the robbery happened. Meanwhile the Brazilian government has been unable to get to the bottom of it and is taking extreme measures to do so.

Here is everything we know about the situation as the layers continued to be peeled off.

Aug. 14, 9:27 a.m.: The first reports of Lochte being held at gunpoint surface

Ben Way of Fox Sports had the news first, tweeting that Lochte was held at gunpoint at a party.

Initially, there was no reason to believe the report wasn’t true. That lasted for about an hour.

Aug. 14, 10:27 a.m.: The IOC denies the story, citing the USOC

An hour after the first news hit, the first denial followed. Mark Adams of the International Olympic Committee was quick to deny the story.

The IOC doesn’t exactly have the most sterling reputation, so that initial denial was met with some skepticism. But, the IOC followed up to say the information it got came from the United States Olympic Committee.

At this point, it was hard to have any idea what was going on. The initial reports were met with apparent denials from the USOC, which would seemingly have access to Lochte to verify the story. If anything, it seemed like the initial report was incorrect.

Aug. 14, 10:39 a.m: Lochte’s mother, Ileana Lochte, confirms the story is indeed true

Ileana Lochte spoke to USA Today and said that her son had indeed said the story was true. She added in some details, including that Lochte and teammates were in a cab when they were confronted by people with guns and had their wallets stolen.

Aug. 14, 12:45 p.m.: Lochte details the incident and says a robber pressed a gun to his forehead

In an interview with Billy Bush on TODAY Lochte told his side of the story.

“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,” Lochte said. “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.”

Aug. 14, 12:58 p.m.: The USOC releases a statement confirming the reports

The USOC released its first statement:

“According to four members of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team (Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen and Ryan Lochte), they left France House early Sunday morning in a taxi headed for the Olympic Village. Their taxi was stopped by individuals posing as armed police officers who demanded the athletes’ money and other personal belongings. All four athletes are safe and cooperating with authorities.”

Aug. 14, 5:57 p.m.: Lochte tweets out a statement reiterating the reports are true

While there were plenty of questionable details and some unusual circumstances, it appeared Lochte and his teammates were in fact robbed. Lochte told the same story to multiple media outlets and the various committees were finally saying the same thing.

Aug. 16, sometime: Lochte arrives back in the United States

Lochte cut his time in Rio short and instead flew back to the United States earlier than originally planned. He posted a photo on Snapchat declaring he was back on US soil.

Aug. 16, 6:03 p.m.: Lochte said the swimmers didn’t tell the USOC initially because they were afraid they would get in trouble

Lochte and USOC officials were eventually able to meet and discuss the situation. The initial apprehension would explain why there was so much initial confusion between the USOC and the IOC over the claims.

Aug. 16, 9:47 p.m.: Rio police struggle to find evidence to support the robbery claim

According to the Associated Press, the swimmers were unable to provide key details and police were struggling to locate the taxi driver or any other witnesses to the robbery.

The group did not call police, authorities said, and officers began investigating once they saw media reports in which Lochte’s mother spoke about the robbery. Police interviewed Lochte and one other swimmer, who said they had been intoxicated and could not remember what type and color of taxi they rode in or where the robbery happened, the police official said. The swimmers also could not say what time the events occurred.

Aug. 17, 10:34 a.m.: A Brazilian judge issued an order to seize Lochte and Feigen’s passports to prevent them from leaving the country

The judge banned the swimmers from leaving Brazil, so they would give additional testimony to their claim. Lochte had flown back to the United States a day earlier. When contacted Wednesday morning Feigen told the told the San Antonio Express-News he was still in Brazil and said he was being “shit stormed.”

Aug. 17, 11:29 a.m.: The USOC confirms police arrived at the Olympic village asking to talk to Lochte and Feigen

The full statement from the USOC:

“Local police arrived at the Olympic Village this a.m. and asked to meet with Ryan Lochte and James Feigen and collect their passports in order to secure further testimony from the athletes. The swim team moved out of the village after their competition ended, so we were not able to make the athletes available.

Additionally, as part of our standard security protocol, we do not make athlete travel plans public and therefore cannot confirm the athletes’ current location.

We will continue to cooperate with Brazilian authorities.”

Aug. 17, 9:12 p.m.: Conger and Bentz were removed from the plane before it took off for their return flight to the United States

The order issued by the Brazilian judge did not include seizing Conger and Bentz’s passports, but they were still removed from their flight by Brazilian authorities.

Aug. 17, 10:43 p.m.: Lochte changes his original story and now says the gun was never pressed against his forehead and the incident occurred outside a gas station bathroom.

Initially, Lochte said the taxi was pulled over by a car with people posing as police officers and that one robber pressed a gun against Lochte’s head before cocking it. Now, he changed the details and said the robber pointed the gun at him. He added the incident occurred as the swimmers were leaving a gas station bathroom and the taxi driver refused to drive.

Lochte relayed the changed story to NBC’s Matt Lauer, who reported that Locthe said he, “wouldn’t make up a story like this, nor would the others.”

Aug. 18, 12:39 a.m.: Conger and Bentz will reportedly not be allowed to leave Brazil until they testify

After being pulled off the plane by Brazilian authorities, Conger and Bentz may be forced to testify if they are going to leave Brazil.

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