Ryan Lochte spoke to NBC’s Matt Lauer, admitting he exaggerated the story of a gas station incident in Rio and taking full responsibility for the situation.
“I over-exaggerated that story,” he said to Lauer, according to an NBC report.
Lochte said he took “full responsibility” for the situation, which has now ballooned into a major story after it was discovered that the incident wasn’t exactly the gunpoint robbery Lochte originally said it was and instead involved security guards demanding payment for damages they say Lochte and three other swimmers caused to a gas station bathroom.
“I’m taking full responsibility for it,” Lochte said. “Because I over-exaggerated that story. And if I had never done that, we wouldn’t be in this mess … None of this would have happened. And it was my immature behavior.”
But Lochte still maintained that there was confusion among the swimmers at the time about the events that took place:
“It’s how you want to make it look like,” Lochte responded after Lauer asked why Lochte originally framed the swimmers as victims. “Whether you call it a robbery, whether you call it extortion, or us paying just for the damages, like, we don’t know. All we know is that there was a gun pointed in our direction, and we were demanded to give money.”
“We just wanted to get out of there,” Lochte continued. “We were all frightened. And we wanted to get out of there as quick as possible. And the only way we knew is — this guy saying, ‘You have to give him money.’ So we gave him money, and we got out.”
NBC will air a more full-length video of Lochte’s interview with Lauer during Saturday night’s Olympics coverage, and will also play the interview on Today on Monday, August 22nd. You can view a brief excerpt of the interview here.
We’ll be updating this story with any more important Lochte comments from the full interview, which should air at around 8 Eastern on NBC.
UPDATE: A preview of the interview saw Lauer ask Lochte how he felt, watching from the United States as his teammates Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were pulled off their airplane home to testify for Brazilian police.
“Hurt,” Lochte said, his voice cracking a little with emotion. “I let my team down. I wanted to be there. I didn’t want them to think I left and left them dry. They were my teammates, I definitely wanted to be there. I wanted to make sure they were home safe before I came out and talked.”
UPDATE: More quotes from Lochte’s interview, which aired around 10:30 Eastern:
Lochte said he didn’t speak publicly (outside of his apology on Instagram) until he knew his teammates were back in the United States.
“Before I wanted to go out on camera, I really wanted to make sure those guys came back on American soil,” he told Lauer.
Lochte admitted he left out details and exaggerated others in his early retellings of the events.
“I left details out, and that’s why I’m in this mess,” he said. Lochte also said his claim that a gun was cocked against his forehead was untrue. When pressed on why he would make up that detail, Lochte admitted he was still under the influence of alcohol at the time.
“I was still intoxicated. I was still under that influence,” he said, making clear that his intoxication didn’t absolve him of guilt. “I’m not making that excuse. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“The gun was drawn, but wasn’t cocked at my forehead. It was pointed in my general direction, and you can see in the footage, that’s when my hands went up.”
“I definitely had too much to drink that night and I was definitely intoxicated. And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t done that.”
“I’m just really sorry about it. I’m embarrassed,” Lochte said, apologizing to his teammates, family, USA Swimming and the Olympic audience, among others.
When asked what he would say to the people of Rio:
“How sorry I am, and my deepest apologies. They put on a great Games. My immature, intoxicated behavior tarnished that a little. And I don’t want that, because they did a great job.”
When asked about whether he deserves a punishment from USA Swimming, the USOC or IOC:
“That’s not my call. All I know is, I learned my lesson from this. These kind of shenanigans, or whatever you want to call them, won’t happen again.”
When asked about the damage to his legacy:
“I don’t want little kids to look at me for what I just did, for that one night… I want to be a role model. And I know that I can change that.”
The full interview will be aired Monday on Today.
This is basically another lie. Unless he is truly sincere. Which is confusing -_-
Read this interview with the judge innitially in charge of the case. It is worth the translation if you are really interested to know both sides of the story.
Did you forget the link?
This is just such a sad ongoing saga. I feel sorry for the 900 SwimMac family members that pay for Team Elite and should be able to expect them to be positive role models for their team mates.
While we can be proud of Ms. Melli and Ms. Baker and their great accomplishments, Mr Lochte and Mr Fiegan have left a perminent stain on our club’s and the sport’s reputation.
I’m also disturbed but not surprised that our CEO/Head Coach and Rio Olympic Coach has been morally and physically silent on how poorly his athletes behaved, represented SwimMac and represented Team USA. Unfortunatly, that silence speaks volumes.
So sad
This from USOC CEO:
http://www.espn.com/olympics/summer/swimming/story/_/id/17359335/scott-blackmun-us-olympic-committee-ceo-says-ryan-lochte-fellow-swimmers-disciplined?ex_cid=espntw
What Ryan should do is find an organization, similar to the one Feigan donated to (maybe swimming oriented), and donate $100,000 and start an ongoing support program in his name.
A move like this, done independently and grander than anyone could imagine, along with a direct apology to ALL involved, is what will begin the turning of public opinion of him, based on his multiple inappropriate actions throughout this wholemail fiasco.
Who thinks that Lochte should have also donated money like Feigan was made to do?
The fine should be between 50 and 1000 USD.
The lost endorsement potential dwarfs whatever fine he ultimately pays to Brazilians – and will continue to grow the longer he leaves this situation less than completely resolved.
It’s a shame that there will be a spillover effect on the rest of our swimmers, who deserve the spotlight this month for their accomplishments but instead get to hear more about their teammates’ indiscretions than about their own impressive achievements. Marketing is fickle, however, and U.S. Olympic Swimmer just doesn’t have the shiny halo after Rio that it normally would – even for gold medalists. There’s always hope for Tokyo…
Lochte exaggerated and omitted details but the Brazillian authorities have done the same thing. Pulling a gun on these men is crazy for an off duty experienced PRISON guard to do considering they may have accidentally pulled off a poster and were scared and trying to leave. There were plenty of security camera images to later identify them. Even the Brazilian who translated for them is lying when he said he he didn’t see guns. The authorities even speculated there was some involvement with girls which again is an exaggeration. Jimmy paying 11,000 for his part is an exaggeration but to then try to get 47,000 is extortion. I don’t condone what the men did but I think Brazil has… Read more »
they weren’t ‘scared’… at least Ryan wasn’t, according to Gunner’s statement he got very irate and confrontational. But good job spinning for your hero.
And Lochte himself told us he wasn’t scared, until later on he admitted he was. But at no time was the guy lying… he’s just a misunderstood hero. Whatever.
Lochte is not my hero. If anyone points a gun at you naturally you would be scared.
Not hulk. He’s a gun hater, but not scared of them.
If, say, the security guards did not keep the the money they received from Lochte & co. for themselves, but gave it to their employers, would you still call them robbers?
If, say, guns were drawn not to demand money, but because at the time all they could see were 4 big guys acting tough, would you still call them robbers?
This is to say, we can’t judge things from a distance and without knowing all the facts (which we probably never will anyway). The one thing we know is that for whatever reason Lochte lied on what had happened, twice, and all the 4 swimmers broke the curfew (I believe Anthony Ervin was punished back in 2000… Read more »
The so called “tough guys” were in a cab, trying to leave when they were extracted from the cab at gunpoint. Fear for their safety was not the motivation for the guns being brandished by the security guards.
No, the gun(s) were not drawn from a fear or protection prospective. The gun (s) were drawn because prior to entering the cab, the four men were requested to stay because the police had already been called. They CHOSE to ignore that request and attempt to leave in the cab, thus putting themselves in a position of needing to be MADE to stay, thus the gun (s) were drawn.