News Roundup (August 19, 2016)
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On Thursday, the United States Olympic Committee issued an apology to Brazil for a “distracting ordeal” involving U.S. Olympic swimmers, bathroom vandalism, and a false report of armed robbery. Earlier in the week, swimmer Ryan Lochte claimed that he and a few other U.S. teammates were robbed at gunpoint in Rio. The purported robbery was a high profile example of security concerns at the Brazil games. As it turns out, the swimmers had drunkenly vandalized a gas station bathroom and concocted the robbery story to avoid getting in trouble. As their story started to unravel, a Brazilian judge ordered the swimmers’ passports seized. Lochte escaped Brazil before his passport was taken, but has not escaped merciless criticism from media outlets at home and abroad.