Shamed Olympian Ryan Lochte blames fake robbery interview on alcohol

Source: the drinks business

by Steven Green

22nd August, 2016

American Olympic athlete has blamed alcohol for the reason behind him giving two false interviews about an armed robbery in Rio de Janeiro.

While speaking on Brazilian TV station El Globo, Lochte was forced to give an apology to the people of Brazil and his teammates and explain why he gave an exaggerated report of an armed robbery before going on to express his hopes that he will be able to move on from the incident and rebuild his reputation.

However, the Daily Mail is reporting that the US Olympic Committee have confirmed that he will face an investigation for his actions, and a punishment for his behaviour could involve a lifetime ban from competitive swimming.

Lochte apologised in his interview, but also claimed that though he “over-exaggerated” what happened, he says he did not lie before going on to blame alcohol for obscuring the truth.

“I wasn’t lying to a certain extent,’ said Lochte. ‘I over-exaggerated what was happening to me.”

“I was still intoxicated. I was still under that influence. And I’m not making – me being intoxicated – an excuse. I’m not doing that at all. I mean, it was my fault,” he had said to Today.

“And I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t even – just kept it like, “I’m not- I’m not saying anything.””

He then told El Globo soon after: “It was. I was highly intoxicated and it was. I’m human. I made a mistake and one thing I did learn, I learnt a lot from it and I know that this will never happen again.”