Ryan Lochte takes full responsibility for ‘childish, immature’ actions in interview
The swimmer says he let the team down with his destructive, intoxicated behavior.
The 2016 summer Olympics officially came to an end Sunday night with the closing ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro. But the story of Ryan Lochte and his U.S. swimming teammates hasn’t finished quite yet.Lochte’s full interview with Today anchor Matt Lauer aired Monday morning, with the swimmer taking full responsibility for his “childish, immature” after a night of partying with his teammates culminated in a volatile situation at a Rio gas station.“The first version of the story you told, Ryan, was much more about the mean streets of Rio,” Lauer said to Lochte. “And the version we’re hearing now is much more about a negotiated settlement to cover up some dumb behavior.”“That’s why I’m taking full responsibility for it,” Lochte said. “Because I over-exaggerated that story, and if I [had] never done that, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”At the same time, a USA Today investigation released Monday calls into question whether the report by Rio authorities was completely accurate.
At a news conference Thursday, Rio police chief Fernando Veloso characterized the athletes’ actions at the gas station as vandalism. He said they also had broken a soap dispenser and mirror inside the restroom. Reports quickly grew that the Americans had trashed the restroom.
A USA Today Sports videographer who visited the bathroom Thursday found no damage to soap dispensers and mirrors and said none of those items appeared to be new. Some media accounts suggested the men had broken down a door, which USA Today Sports also did not observe.
A review of the surveillance footage by USA Today did not show any of the athletes going near the bathroom, and Lochte denied going in the bathroom to Lauer. Swimmer Gunnar Bentz, who was one of the four U.S. athletes involved in the incident, supported this in a statement posted to the University of Georgia swimming and diving program’s website, saying “to my knowledge, there was no damage done to the door or the inside of the restroom.” Nevertheless, Lochte’s initial comments that he had a gun pointed to his forehead were proven false by security footage, and the fact that his teammates were held by authorities in Brazil for questioning while he flew back to the U.S. clearly weighed on him.“I let my team down,” Lochte told Lauer, tearing up. “I don’t want them to think that I left and left them dry. They’re my teammates. … I was immature and made a stupid mistake.”Speedo USA announced Monday morning that it has dropped Lochte as a sponsor, and is donating $50,000 of Lochte’s fee to Save the Children to benefit children in Brazil, according to the Associated Press.Watch a clip of Lochte’s interview below.
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