Brazil label Lochte apology insincere, tennis players top Tinder and professor McEvoy
RIO CONFIDENTIAL: US gold medallist Ryan Lochte has said sorry to Brazil — but Brazil isn’t convinced. The response to his Twitter apology has been ridiculed as fake.
US gold medallist Ryan Lochte has said sorry to Brazil — but Brazil isn’t convinced.
The swimmer sissued an apology for his “behaviour” and his teammate Jimmy Feigen promised to give a Brazilian charity almost $14,000 as America continued damage control over the swimmers’ fake gunpoint robbery tale.
But the response to his Twitter apology has been ridiculed as insincere and as fake as the robbery story he concocted.
The apology came as a man who offered to translate for the swimmers on their messy night out at the petrol station told how the squad had begged people not to call the police, further embarrassing Lochte who earlier this week sensationally painted the teammates as victims of an armed heist.
Lochte’s statement, posted to social media, said he should have been more “careful and candid” in explaining what happened, but then qualified by saying the events were “traumatic”.
“It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country — with a language barrier — and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave,” he said in the statement.
As Lochte issued his statement from the US, team mate Jimmy Feigen was ordered to pay 35,000 Brazilian real (about $14,000 AUD) by a court to avoid charges, with the money to go to charity.
Brazilian authorities unpicked sensational claims by Lochte, Feigen and two others that they had been held up with a gun and forced to hand over their cash one evening.
Police said one of the squad had vandalised a service station bathroom, before an armed security guard made them pay for the damage.
Brazilian local Fernando Deluz was passing the petrol station at the time of the incident and told Brazilian TV he’d help translate for the swimmers that night and that the men tried to leave the scene.
“There was a moment when they tried to escape, and that’s when the security guards stopped them,” Fernando Deluz said.
He said no one touched the swimmers and they pleaded “no” when an employee offered to call police.
Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada said Lochte’s accusations had upset many Brazilians.
“We obviously accept his apology and we appreciate it,” Mr Andrada said.
“The Brazilian population was quite disappointed in the actions, and in fact we had 1.8 million people on the Rio 2016 twitter complaining about the whole thing,” he said adding that accounted for 2.5 per cent of total Rio mentions they were monitoring.
The IOC also welcomed the apology.
PROFESSOR MCEVOY
With competition a distant memory, Cameron McEvoy yesterday swapped his pool goggles for some of the virtual reality variety.
The Gold Coast swimmer, who his teammates have dubbed “the professor” due to his diligent study of physics and maths, indulged in his other love, spending the day at GE’s global research headquarters in Rio.
“I saw Usain Bolt’s final last night, and that was a highlight, and then to follow up and spend the day here at GE talking to the researchers, that has been another great life moment,” he said afterwards.
McEvoy is a GE ambassador and said his favourite conversation yesterday was with a scientist investigating deep sea oil and gas mining.
A week after his disappointing turn out in the pool - where he failed to bring home an individual medal despite being one of the favourites in the 50m and 100m freestyle - the 22 year old said he had time to reflect on what went wrong.
He said there wasn’t a particular reason for his failure to shine, but that he was going to work on recalibrating his training ahead of next year’s World Championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
“The Commonwealth Games are in my hometown on the Gold Coast, so I have some work to do to be ready,” he said.
HICKEY IN MAXIMUM SECURITY
You’d think things couldn’t get any worse for IOC top dog Pat Hickey who was arrested in the nude this week.
Turns out they can - he was transported to Brazil’s maximum security prison yesterday.
The notorious Bangu 10 jail is no place for a 71-year-old Irishman, which is said to be home to some of the country’s most dangerous inmates and has previously been the scene of murders and riots.
Europe’s top Olympic official is under suspicion of being caught up in an illegal ticket selling blot.
Hickey complained of chest pain after his arrest, was taken to hospital, then handed back to Rio police.
The scheme apparently helps pass tickets to vendors to resell them for far above face value.
TENNIS TOPS TINDER
It’s a good week to be a tennis player.
Tinder data out from the games has revealed athletes in which sports were most swiped right in the dating app.
If you’re unfamiliar with Tinder, swiping right means it’s someone you want contact with.
For men, tennis was top of the table, followed by an obvious penchant for muscles with weightlifting and gymnastics coming in second and third.
The most popular women on tennis played table tennis, followed by field hockey and rowing.
Swimming just cut it at number 6 for the women, but didn’t appear at all on the men’s list.
Originally published as Brazil label Lochte apology insincere, tennis players top Tinder and professor McEvoy
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