The Ryan Lochte story just keeps getting weirder

RYAN Lochte has changed parts of a story claiming he and other swimmers were robbed at gunpoint by thieves impersonating police.

Lochte wasn’t entirely truthful.

AMERICAN swimmer Ryan Lochte has changed elements of a story claiming he and fellow teammates were robbed at gunpoint by thieves impersonating police in Rio.

The 32-year initially claimed he was in a taxi with several members of the US swim team before they were pulled over, forced to the ground and had their wallets stolen. When he initially refused to lay down, Lochte said one of the robbers cocked a gun and put it against his head.

However, he has since changed tack slightly, reportedly telling NBC’s Matt Lauer they weren’t in fact pulled over, and he did not have a gun put to his head.

Instead, he said the swimmers had a gun pointed in their direction when they emerged from a petrol station rest room and tried to get into a taxi, only for the driver to prevent them from getting in.

He then claimed the driver refused to move before two men approached the car and told them to get on the ground. He stuck to his story about refusing to lay down while his teammates obliged, saying: “I have no reason to get on the ground.

“We wouldn’t make a story up. We’re victims in this,” Lochte reportedly told Lauer.

Matt Lauer on NBC says Ryan Lochte changed his story in call today. No longer says gun was put to his head, nor that they were pulled over

— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 18, 2016

Lauer: Lochte now says they were ambushed after using gas stn restroom when cab driver refused to drive, gun was "pointed in his direction"

— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 18, 2016

As if the story couldn’t get more confusing, American sportscaster Bob Costas later interviewed Lauer about his interview with Lochte.

Lauer said the swimmer had altered parts of his story, but the guts of it remained true.

“He did (tweak his story),” Lauer said. “He stuck to most of the story. He did change one thing. I would say he softened some things, or stepped back.

“One thing he did not say this time — he didn’t say he was pulled over by these people pretending to be police.”

Lauer then told Costas why Lochte may have changed details about having a gun cocked to his head.

“I think he feels it was more of a traumatic mischaracterisation. I think people listening at home might think that it was an embellishment at the time, but that is up for people to decide.”

Earlier, Lochte had told NBC’s Billy Bush the robbers pulled out police badges when approaching him.

Lochte re-telling his story.

“I was with a couple of swimmers. We were coming back from a friend’s house. We got pulled over in our taxi. These guys came out with a badge, a police badge. No lights. No nothing. Just a police badge.

“They pulled us over. They pulled out their guns.”

Lochte’s story was called into question when footage emerged of the swimmers appearing to re-enter the Olympic Village with their wallets.

Yesterday a Rio judge ordered Lochte, Gunna Betz and Jack Conger’s passports be seized so they could be brought in for further questioning, suggesting there were doubts about the veracity of their claims.

Lochte, though, had already flown home to the US, but as reported by The Daily Telegraph, Betz and Conger were detained at Rio airport on their way home. It’s understood they were escorted off their plan for questioning.

Federal police reportedly boarded the plane and took the swimmers with them.