US swimmers ‘lied about gunpoint robbery’

Police began investigating the incident after four swimmers, including gold medallists Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen, said they been robbed by gunmen impersonating police officers in the early hours of Sunday, as they returned in a taxi to the Athletes' Village from a party in the city.

Fernando Veloso said there was no robbery as described by the swimmers and that they had instead offered to pay some money for damage to the gas station. Veloso did not give details on the alleged vandalism.

Brazil TV aired a video on Thursday that suggested the four swimmers did not tell the whole truth when they said they were robbed at gunpoint - an incident that has marred the image of South America's first Olympic Games.

"The athletes lied to us about their story," a top Rio police official told Reuters on Thursday, declining to be identified because the matter was still under investigation.

A police source and staff at the station have said that the swimmers caused minor damage there, though there is still no consistent account. The source said they damaged a bathroom door and staff said they tore down a poster and also urinated on the wall of the station's convenience store.

The video does not show them causing any breakage, but only being hustled out of the bathroom by uniformed employees. Security guards then prevent the swimmers from leaving in a taxi and the Americans appear to offer them money from their wallets.

Three of the swimmers are made to sit on the ground with their hands in the air. At one point, Lochte stands and appears to argue with the guards but is made to sit down again.

On Sunday, Lochte had told NBC that the taxi he was travelling in with his three team-mates was flagged down by robbers posing as police and they held a gun to his head during a robbery. He made no mention of stopping at a gas station.

NBC host Matt Lauer said late on Wednesday that Lochte repeated a slightly modified version to NBC in an interview not yet aired, saying the swimmers had stopped at a petrol station and that a gun was pointed in his direction during the robbery.

The Shell service station is close to the Olympic Park where sporting action has been overshadowed over the past two weeks by a string of muggings and robberies, including incidents involving other athletes and two visiting government ministers.