U.S Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte Saturday said that he was taking "full responsibility" for the so-called robbery that he and three other American swimmers faced in Rio and admitted that "I over-exaggerated that story" he told Brazilian authorities.
"I over-exaggerated that story," Lochte, 32, who has six Olympic gold medals, told Matt Lauer of NBC News in an interview.
"It's how you want to make it look like," he said after Lauer asked about his insistence to police that the swimmers were "victims" of a robbery. The others were Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen.
"Whether you call it a robbery, whether you call it extortion, or us paying just for the damages, like, we don't know," Lochte said. "All we know is that there was a gun pointed in our direction, and we were demanded to give money."
Lauer's interview came a day after Lochte posted an apology for the debacle online.
He had maintained that the four were robbed by security guards at gunpoint at a Rio gas station after a night of partying.
Brazilian police countered that the story sought to cover up a vandalism incident at the gas station by the swimmers who were drunk.
The International Olympic Committee began a disciplinary investigation of the incident on Friday.
Lauer pressed Lochte on a statement Bentz gave police that a man who spoke English told the swimmers that security guards at the gas station told them to pay for the damage they caused or else they would call authorities.
"We just wanted to get out of there," Lochte responded. "We were all frightened.
"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."
Lauer then said: "What I'm trying to get at is the first version of the story you told, Ryan, was much more about the mean streets of Rio. The version we're hearing now is much more about a negotiated settlement to cover up some dumb behavior."
"That's why 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," he added. "And it was my immature behavior."
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