After US swimmers Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen alleged that they had been robbed at gunpoint while in Rio for the Olympic Games, Jimmy has promised to pay $11,000 (£8,200) to a Brazilian charity as compensation for fabricating the story.
The four men originally claimed that they had been returning to the Olympic Village from a party when they were pulled over and robbed. "We got pulled over in our taxi and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge. No lights, no nothing, just a police badge. They pulled us over, they pulled out their guns. They told the other swimmers to get down on the ground, they got down on the ground," Ryan Lochte told the Today show.
© Photo: Getty ImagesJimmy will paying £8,200 to a Brazilian charity
"I refused. I was like 'We didn't do anything wrong so I'm not getting down on the ground.' The guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead…I put my hands up. I was like 'whatever.' He took our money, he took my wallet. He left my cellphone, he left my credentials."
The story was soon called into question when police investigating the alleged incident reported that there was very little evidence to support the story, before Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were pulled off their flight back to the States and had their passports seized to "continue…discussions about the incident."
© Photo: Getty ImagesBrazilian police claim the group "told one lie after another"
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A Brazilian police officer then told The New York Times that the swimmers' stories were untrue after a video of the group having an altercation at a petrol station emerged after breaking a locked bathroom door. He said: "Unfortunately, the swimmers told one lie after another. We've been able to determine that there was no armed assault."
A Brazilian police official also told the Associated Press that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz had confirmed that the story was fabricated.
