The CEO of the US Olympic Committee, Scott Blackmun, has said that Ryan Lochte and the three other swimmers involved in the Rio robbery scandal will face disciplinary action. He did not specify what punishment they would be given when he spoke to NBC on Sunday, but said that the group had "let down our athletes".
"They let down Americans," he added. "People are going to remember the incident, but that doesn't define these Games."
Ryan Lochte and his teammates will face disciplinary action over the Rio robbery scandal
Ryan, 32, had initially claimed that he and three other Team USA swimmers – James Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger – were robbed at gunpoint while out in Rio on 14 August.
However, Brazilian police then revealed that the four men had not been robbed as they had stated, and had instead handed over money as payment for vandalising a local gas station. It was later confirmed that the security guard had drawn his gun after the men refused to pay for damages.
On Saturday, Ryan gave his first in-depth interview about the incident, and told NBC's Matt Lauer that he was still intoxicated at the time he was interviewed by police, and had "over-exaggerated" the story.
Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were briefly detained in Rio before returning to the US
"It's how you wanna make it look like," he said. "Whether you call it a robbery or extortion or us paying just for the damages. All we know was there was a gun pointed in our direction and we were demanded to give money."
Asked about the exaggerations in his story, Ryan added: "It was hours after the incident happened, I was still intoxicated. I'm not making that an excuse. I shouldn't have said that. I over-exaggerated that part. The gun was drawn but it wasn't at my forehead."
The gas station where the incident took place
Ryan's fellow teammates have also spoken out since returning to the US from Rio, with Gunnar releasing a statement apologising for his part in the event, while Jimmy Feigen was ordered to pay £8,200 to a Brazilian charity by way of compensation.
