U.S. Swim Team member Ryan Lochte and three teammates were robbed at gunpoint morning in Rio de Janeiro, NBC reports. No one was injured.
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Team member Gunnar Bentz, who was among the victims, posted a message thanking fans for their support:
Lochte told NBC’s Billy Bush:
“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. 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.”
Lochte and other members of the US Swim Team trained in Atlanta right before Rio. He tweeted this photo of his new hairstyle by local stylist Jenn Jones while he was in town.
USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky released this statement to NBC News:
“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.”
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