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Ryan Lochte Robbed: Swimmer’s Mom Claims Her Son Was Robbed At Gunpoint In Rio, IOC Denies Story

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 04:36 PST, Aug 14, 2016

The Washington Post is reporting that United States Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte was robbed at gunpoint in Rio. Lochte is a six-time gold medalist and he was out at Club France celebrating the birthday of a friend with Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira and his wife Gabriela Pauletti. Pereira’s spokesman, Flavio Perez, gave details of the incident to The 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. “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.”

Lochte’s mother also confirmed to USA TODAY that Ryan was involved in a robbery.

“I think they’re all shaken up. There were a few of them,” Ileana Lochte said. “No, they were just, they just took their wallets and basically that was it.”

Lochte’s mom said that Ryan was with at least one other United States teammate in a cab heading to meet up with Pereira when the taxi stopped to get gas. Lochte and his friend(s) were then held up by a group wielding guns and knives who demanded their wallets.

Ben Way of Fox Sports News reported that Ryan’s mom told him that the incident was “terrifying” and that she was on her way to meet her son following the robbery.

Now for quite possibly the oddest part of this entire story. The International Olympic Committee is claiming that Ryan Lochte was never robbed and that the story is “absolutely not true.”

“I can tell you the story is absolutely not true,” spokesman Mark Adams said at the Olympic Park, after receiving a message on his mobile phone.

“It (the message) is from USOC (United States Olympic Committee). It’s a false story.”

Not only is the IOC denying the report of the Lochte robbery, but Ryan’s personal coach David Marsh reportedly texted USA TODAY to deny the story as well, according to Complex.

Despite the denials, The Washington Post says it has confirmed that the robbery happened and that Ryan Lochte is okay and back at the United States Olympic Village. Lochte last appeared in an Olympic event on Thursday night when he finished fifth in the Men’s 200m individual medley. Ryan did win a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics as a member of the United States 4x200m Freestyle Relay.

This whole story is really bizarre. Hopefully, Lochte will eventually come out and clear up the misconceptions because either the IOC is lying or his mom is lying and it’s going to be a really bad look on whichever party isn’t telling the truth.

The most important thing is that it sounds like Ryan Lochte is unharmed, and hopefully he can fill in some of the blanks in the near future.

Update: Nicole Auerbach from USA TODAY Sports recently posted a statement to her Twitter account from the USOC confirming the Ryan Lochte robbery which involved three other American swimmers.

[Photo via Harry How/Getty Images]

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