U.S, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte recounted how one of the robbers threatened him by pointing a gun right at his forehead on August 14. He initially resisted the robbers' instructions who disguised themselves as local police officers.
Lochte and three of his swimming teammates were on their way back to their designated building, according to ESPN. They just left the French Athletes Village in the Southern part of Rio when the taxi the Americans were riding on was flagged down by the robbers.
The robbers introduced themselves as policemen and ordered Lochte and his companions out of the vehicle. They ordered the American swimmers to "go down on the ground". Lochte however, refused to join his companions. This angered one of the robbers who approached him and put a cocked gun in the athlete's forehead.
Lochte raised his hands to show he did not intend to fight them. The robbers then proceeded to take their money and credit cards. Their identification cards and other documents were not taken. The American athlete won 12 gold medals in the Rio Olympics. None of those were taken during the holdup.
Fortunately, none of the American swimmers were harmed and the criminals promptly left after taking their valuables. By Sunday afternoon, Lochte posted a tweet on Twitter to assure family and friends that he is safe and well.
Officials of the Rio Olympics are having problems keeping athletes and their support teams safe from local criminals. Several athletes and sports officials were also robbed and even harmed during the Olympic Games despite the presence of more than 80,000 police and military personnel. Initially, Olympic officials denied that the robbery of Lochte and company took place. The officials, however, corrected themselves and confirmed the incident.
There have also been earlier reports of bad plumbing and electric connections in a number of athletes' housing in the city.
