US Olympic Swimmers' Passports Are Confiscated As Doubts Are Raised About Their Claimed Attack
A judge in Rio has ordered for the confiscation of the passports of the North American Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigan. The two athletes claimed they had been the victims of an armed attack in Rio in the early hours of Sunday morning (14).
The judge's ruling means that the two athletes will be forbidden from leaving the country. Keyla Blanc De Cnop, of the Special Judges Committee for Spectators and Large Events, noticed possible discrepancies in the swimmers' accounts of the attack.
In a statement, the USA Olympic Committee said that the Rio police force went to the Olympic Village this Wednesday morning (17). The statement also says that the athletes are no longer in the Village, but does not specify where they have gone.
"The police arrived in the Olympic Village this morning and asked to speak to Ryan Lochte and James Feign. Then their passports were confiscated in order to ensure the two swimmers would have to make another statement. The USA swimming team left the Village at the end of their competition, so we were unable to arrange a meeting between these athletes and the police," said Patrick Sandusky, the head of the US committee.
The judge's decision is not final however. She is waiting to hear a plea from Rio's Public Ministry, which asked for new investigations to be launched to uncover whether the swimmers were involved in abuse of justice and making false statements.
According to the judge, the athletes' contradictory statements led her to believe that the information they had given was false.
Ryan Lochte said in a statement to the Civil Police that the sportsmen had been approached by an armed attacker, who demanded they hand over US$400.
James Feigen gave a different story. He confirmed that the athletes were set upon by a group of attackers, although only one of them was armed.
In the decision, the judge pointed out the suspicious behaviour of the athletes as they arrived back at the Olympic Village after the alleged attack, which supposedly occurred on the way home from a party at the French hospitality house.
"The apparent victims arrived back at the Village with no signs of physical or psychological trauma. They even arrived in high spirits, laughing and joking with one another," said the Magistrate, basing her description on CCTV footage of the athletes.
Translated by GILLIAN SOPHIE HARRIS