Updated 4:20 p.m. – Brazilian law enforcement authorities removed U.S. Olympic swimmer and Rockville native Jack Conger from a U.S.-bound plane Wednesday night for questioning about a robbery that he reportedly was a victim of Sunday.
Conger and teammate Gunnar Bentz were taken off the plane and brought to a police station. The U.S. Olympic Committee released a statement early Thursday morning saying the two were released “with the understanding that they would continue their discussions about the incident on Thursday," and that they are being represented by attorneys and supported by the U.S. Counsulate in Rio.
PHOTO: American swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, leave the police station at Rio's airport early Thursday pic.twitter.com/bq7oI3k7uP
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) August 18, 2016
U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte made headlines Sunday when he told media outlets he and three other U.S. swimmers—Conger, Bentz and James Feigen—were robbed by men posing as police officers on the way back from a party early Sunday morning. On Thursday morning, following similar reports from a number of media outlets, the Associated Press cited a "Brazil police official" as saying the group wasn't robbed, but rather got into a confrontation at a Rio gas station.
Thursday afternoon, media outlets began airing surveillance camera footage from the gas station showing the swimmers. Police in Brazil held a press conference in which a police inspector said the swimmers caused damage to a bathroom at the gas station and paid for the damages after being confronted by a security guard with a gun. The police inspector also told reporters one of the swimmers remaining in Brazil admitted the robbery story was made up.
A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered Lochte and Conger to remain in the country, but Lochte is already back in the U.S., according to reports.
Conger, a 21-year-old Good Counsel High School graduate, is a swimmer for the University of Texas and earned a gold medal as part of the U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay team.
