The International Olympic Committee (IOC) found itself in hot water after they denied that people robbed U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte and three others because the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) verified their stories.
Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira invited Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and Jimmy Feigen to a party. But people in a cop car and badges pulled over their taxi and held them at gunpoint:
“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,” Lochte told Bush. “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 released the statement:
Lochte called his mother right away, who also told media outlets what her son told her.
Pereira’s agent and spokesman told the same story to The Washington Post:
“Thiago Pereira and his wife Gabriela Pauletti were in Club France, the French house in Brazil, and they were celebrating the birthday of a friend in common,” said Perez, Pereira’s spokesman. “Lochte was also in the same place, commemorating the same birthday. Ryan and Thiago are friends. Thiago and his wife left earlier, they left alone, the two of them. Thiago and his wife went back to their hotel. Then Thiago, on finding out what happened, called Ryan. Ryan is well, and Thiago said that the robbery, according to Ryan, was in the taxi. The taxi was robbed.”
The IOC immediately denied the robbery took place and referred all questions to the USOC, which came back to bite them.
The IOC and Rio has faced huge security concerns for years over the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Rio government fired the security firm in charge a week before the games started, but they hired this company that had no experience handling a huge event.
In May, Brazilian soccer star Rivaldo used his Instagram account to encourage people not to attend the Olympics due to violence and corruption. He wrote:
Bandits in Rio de Janeiro killed this 17-year-old girl. Things are getting uglier in Brazil. I advise everyone who wants to visit Brazil or come to the Olympics in Rio to remain in their country of origin. Your life will be in danger here. Not to mention the fact that the public hospitals are useless and the mess in Brazilian politics. Only God can change the situation in our Brazil.
Rivaldo posted a picture of 17-year-old Ana Beatriz Pereira Frade. Armed robbers surrounded Frade and her stepfather on their way to the airport. One of the men shot her in the head after her stepfather attempted to run into the gang to escape. A baby in the back of the car did not receive any injuries.
In January, Forbes called Brazil the murder capital of the world after 22 cities made it into the top 50 list of most violent cities in the world.
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