Sports

Ryan Lochte’s Mom Says He Was Robbed at Gunpoint, IOC Says it’s “Absolutely Not True” [UPDATING]

According to Ryan Lochte’s mother, Ileana Lochte, her son was robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning. According to his mother, Lochte was reportedly in a cab with at least one of his fellow U.S. teammates when they were held up by people with guns and knives. His mother says he is fine—he had his wallet stolen, but he’s otherwise fine—but virtually everyone else involved is disputing this story.

Lochte’s personal coach David Marsh, who is also the head coach for the women’s swim team, disputed Ileana Lochte’s account and told USA Today that he “was not held up” but he was still trying to figure out what happened. The IOC released a statement on the story, calling it “‘absolutely not true,’ according to Lochte and USOC.”

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Ileana Lochte says her son informed her about the incident via text message, but told her he was OK. She spoke to Fox Sports Australia—the first outlet to report the incident, claiming it happened at a party—and later confirmed a slightly different story to USA Today, saying: “I think they’re all shaken up. There were a few of them…they just took their wallets and basically that was it.” Here’s more from USA Today:

Early Sunday morning, Ryan Lochte was with at least one U.S. teammate in a cab heading to meet up with Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira when the cab stopped to get gas, Ileana Lochte said.

She said the group was held up and confronted by people who had guns and knives.

Ileana Lochte said her son had his wallet taken but that was it. He notified her via text message afterward.

This is a pretty weird story, with Lochte seemingly disputing his own mother’s account, but he is one of the more visible Americans at the Rio Games so it would obviously bring a lot of heat and embarrassment on Lochte and the USOC, the city, and organizers if we ever find out what, if anything, actually happened.

Update: Ryan Lochte has confirmed to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush that he and three other teammates were in fact robbed at gunpoint. Why, or how, the USOC and the IOC—somehow quoting Lochte—denied the initial report is…something we’ll be hearing about, presumably.

From Access Hollywood:

Lochte said his car was sideswiped in the ordeal, and he was held up by men who had badges. The gold medalist could not say if they were law enforcement.

And here is a statement from the USOC, also confirming the reports, though not addressing the initial denial:

Update 2: Here’s more information from the incident, from a partial transcript of Bush’s conversation with Lochte. It sounds pretty terrifying; Lochte claims one of the men pulled a gun on him and pressed it against his head:

[USA Today]

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