USOC Gives Statement on Lochte Incident; Bentz & Conger Have Left Rio

According to the United States Olympic Committee‘s official statement released at 11:19 Brazil time on Thursday night, the Rio authorities have released Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger‘s passports, and the two have left the country.

Jimmy Feigen has revised his statement, hoping to have his passport released soon.

The USOC has not yet seen Bentz and Conger’s statements regarding the incident on Sunday morning, but, having collaborated with the U.S. Consulate in Rio and watched the security footage, the USOC has pieced together the events of the night.

“As we understand it, the four athletes (Bentz, Conger, Feigen and Ryan Lochte) left France House early in the morning of August 14 in a taxi headed to the Olympic Village,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun“They stopped at a gas station to use the restroom, where one of the athletes committed an act of vandalism. An argument ensued between the athletes and two armed gas station security staff, who displayed their weapons, ordered the athletes from their vehicle and demanded the athletes provide a monetary payment. Once the security officials received money from the athletes, the athletes were allowed to leave.”

The statement assures that the athletes’ behavior is “not acceptable,” and the U.S. Olympic Committee will further review “any potential consequences for the athletes” upon its return to the United States.

See the full statement below:

Two U.S. Olympic swimmers (Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger) have given statements to local authorities today regarding the incident first reported on Sunday, August 14, 2016. Their passports have been released and they recently departed Rio.  
 
After providing a statement earlier in the week, a third (James Feigen) provided a revised statement this evening with the hope of securing the release of his passport as soon as possible. 
 
Working in collaboration with the U.S. Consulate in Rio, we have coordinated the athletes’ cooperation with local authorities and ensured their safety throughout the process, but we have not seen the full statements provided by Bentz and Conger.
 
However, we understand that they describe the events that many have seen on surveillance video made publicly available today. As we understand it, the four athletes (Bentz, Conger, Feigen and Ryan Lochte) left France House early in the morning of August 14 in a taxi headed to the Olympic Village. They stopped at a gas station to use the restroom, where one of the athletes committed an act of vandalism. An argument ensued between the athletes and two armed gas station security staff, who displayed their weapons, ordered the athletes from their vehicle and demanded the athletes provide a monetary payment. Once the security officials received money from the athletes, the athletes were allowed to leave.
 
The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team USA or the conduct of the vast majority of its members. We will further review the matter, and any potential consequences for the athletes, when we return to the United States. 
 
On behalf of the United States Olympic Committee, we apologize to our hosts in Rio and the people of Brazil for this distracting ordeal in the midst of what should rightly be a celebration of excellence.
 
With three days remaining in the Olympic Games, our primary focus will remain on supporting the athletes who are still competing and celebrating the achievements of those who have finished.

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coacherik
7 years ago

Lochte, I don’t get it. You could have easily kept this to yourself, gave the gas station money for the door, but here we are. After lies and live interviews and teammates being held in Rio until the investigation is over? You’ve done a real bang up job in and out of the pool this Olympics. Congrats…..This is now an international incident being cover by every major media entity and rehashed several times over on ESPN.

H2O Bruin
7 years ago

I have no respect for this guy as a human being. He needs to go into seclusion and reflect some more.

tm71
7 years ago

I think practically no one will remember bentz, feigen and conger being involved in this by the time the next Olympics roll around. They might or might not even be on the team. However Lochte had the most to lose from this and since he is supposed to be a team leader and more mature than his team mates should have stayed to clear himself and his team mates. But he did decide to leave and make statements thru the press but not to the authorities and his teams officials. Of course as usual the press made a big deal of it. Btw there have been other reports of athletes being mugged and robbed. the lessons here are that when… Read more »

jiggs
7 years ago

The ultimate destination for the Lochte über-fan now is to use that very restroom at the gas station in Rio. Make sure the door, the soap dispenser and the paper towel dispenser are in good working order. Be reverent and extra careful at this holy place.

BananaPants
7 years ago

Apparently Feigen will get his passport back and be allowed to leave after making a $10,800 “donation” to an unnamed institution, per his attorney. That’s the most expensive broken plastic sign I’ve ever heard of.

My guess is that Bentz, Conger, and Feigen are doing to say and do anything they need to in order to get out of Brazil, given that the government seized their passports, and then after the games we’ll hear a slightly different tune on PR.

Rafael
Reply to  BananaPants
7 years ago

Bananapants.. the donation is not due to the plastic sign broken.. You have to pay donations (Usually give “Cestas básicas” – Which is a “basic package” containing food (Usually Sugar, Rice, Beans,and other basic stuff for a Brazilian family)) because that is the usual fine paid for giving False Testimony

ct swim fan
Reply to  BananaPants
7 years ago

I wonder if Lochte will re-imburse Feigen some of the money he had to pay to get his passport back.

Barry
7 years ago

Has anyone seen the missing 3 minutes?

Sergey v
Reply to  Barry
7 years ago

We want to see how small their weenies are!

Attila the Hunt
7 years ago

I hope Lochte pays Feigen at least the $11,000

Attila the Hunt
Reply to  Attila the Hunt
7 years ago

Feigen is flying back home!!

RIO DE JANEIRO — Two American Olympic swimmers were on their way home Friday after being pulled off a plane a day earlier to testify about an alleged robbery at the Rio Olympics that Brazilian police said was made up. The lawyer for a third U.S. swimmer said he would make a $10,800 payment and leave Brazil later in the day.

http://www.espn.com/olympics/swimming/story/_/id/17344136/us-swimmer-james-feigen-make-10800-payment-leave-brazil-according-lawyer

“After a long deliberation, this agreement was reached … he will donate 35,000 real [approximately $10,800] to an institute, and with that the case is resolved,” Feigen’s lawyer Breno Melaragno told reporters.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-rio-summer-olympics/jimmy-feigen-u-s-swimmer-lochte-scandal-pays-leave-rio-n634201

Attila the Hunt
7 years ago

Feigen is flying back home!!

RIO DE JANEIRO — Two American Olympic swimmers were on their way home Friday after being pulled off a plane a day earlier to testify about an alleged robbery at the Rio Olympics that Brazilian police said was made up. The lawyer for a third U.S. swimmer said he would make a $10,800 payment and leave Brazil later in the day.

http://www.espn.com/olympics/swimming/story/_/id/17344136/us-swimmer-james-feigen-make-10800-payment-leave-brazil-according-lawyer

“After a long deliberation, this agreement was reached … he will donate 35,000 real [approximately $10,800] to an institute, and with that the case is resolved,” Feigen’s lawyer Breno Melaragno told reporters.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-rio-summer-olympics/jimmy-feigen-u-s-swimmer-lochte-scandal-pays-leave-rio-n634201

Peter B
Reply to  Attila the Hunt
7 years ago

Attila, this is not a donation. This is a fine imposed by the judicial system.

About Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht grew up in Kansas and spent most of her childhood trying to convince coaches to let her swim backstroke in freestyle sets. She took her passion to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa and swam at NAIA Nationals all four years. After graduating in 2015, she moved to …

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