American swimmer Ryan Lochte was held up at gunpoint on Saturday night, according to reports out of Rio. Lochte, who won a gold medal as a member of the men’s 4×200 meter freestyle relay at the 2016 Games, was attending a party and reportedly made it back to the USA Swimming base safely.
There aren’t too many details about the incident, but England’s Mirror Online and Ben Way of FOX SPORTS News in Australia confirmed that this occurred.
BREAKING: @USASwimming Gold medallist Ryan Lochte has been held up at gunpoint at a party in Brazil.
Details on @FOXSportsNews 500.— Ben Way (@BenWayAUS) August 14, 2016
Lochte invited by Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira, and is now safe at @USASwimming base. @FOXSportsNews told 3 teammates were with him.
— Ben Way (@BenWayAUS) August 14, 2016
Lochte called his mother Ileana immediately afterwards. She told @FOXSportsNews it was "terrifying" and has just left her hotel to meet him.
— Ben Way (@BenWayAUS) August 14, 2016
Additionally, an official in Rio says that they were aware of the incident but did not have any more information on what went down.
On report Ryan Lochte was held up at gunpoint last night: “We heard about the event, but we don’t have more information.” RIO 2016 official
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) August 14, 2016
Save for two open-water events, Saturday was the final night of swimming at the 2016 Olympics, where Lochte competed in a pair of events – the aforementioned relay and the 200 meter individual medley. While Lochte is the world-record holder in the event, he registered a fifth-place finish in the IM in Rio.
Lochte is one of the most decorated American swimmers of all-time. He has accrued 12 medals during his Olympic career, six of which were golds. While he is 32 and wants to take a break from the sport, Lochte has expressed his desire to try and make the Olympic team for the 2020 Games in Japan.
Fortunately, it sounds like Lochte is OK, but this incident still sounds like it was absolutely terrifying. We’ll keep you updated as more information comes in.
Update: This story took a weird twist, as the International Olympic Committee claimed that the report of Lochte getting held up was false.
BREAKING: IOC spokesman: Report that swimmer Lochte robbed at gunpoint 'absolutely not true,' according to Lochte and USOC.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 14, 2016
Lochte’s personal coach also told USA Today that the incident did not occur, but did mention that he was working to get to the bottom of this story.
While that all seems pretty cut and dry, Lochte’s mother told USA Today that her son and a few others were held up and had their wallets were stolen. Additionally, she claims that she was notified by her son via text message.
Reached by USA TODAY Sports, Ileana Lochte confirmed a report that Lochte was robbed. She said he was unharmed.
“I think they’re all shaken up. There were a few of them,” Ileana Lochte said. “No, they were just, they just took their wallets and basically that was it.”
There also seems to be a source for the IOC’s statement: social media. According to Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports, there was no formal investigation as to what happened with Lochte. Instead, their conclusion was reached because of social media.
I'm at presser. IOC was quoting "social media" as saying it was false. It was not the result of any investigation https://t.co/WNJoczSsVf
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) August 14, 2016