The ugly Americans

The ugly Americans

August 20, 2016
Ryan Lochte
Ryan Lochte

The Rio Olympics has seen its fair share of controversies: the Egyptian judoka who refused to shake hands with his Israeli opponent after the match; the French pole vaulter who was booed on the podium even though his opponent from Brazil – the host country – won the gold; and a tweet from US comedian and chat show host Ellen DeGeneres, depicting herself on Usain Bolt’s back, which has been called racist. But the biggest fiasco must go to the four US swimmers who apparently were not robbed at gunpoint as they initially claimed. After days of confusion about what actually happened to Ryan Lochte, James Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, there’s now video of much of the incident, which occurred at a gas station in the early morning of Aug. 14. According to Brazilian police, not only were the swimmers not robbed—as per their initial claim—but they vandalized a Rio gas station bathroom. Despite Lochte’s earliest claims, the swimmers were not pulled over and removed from a cab at gunpoint. The affair has spiraled into a diplomatic matter which is overshadowing the Olympic Games as they draw to a close.

The incident was confusing from the start. Doubts about the incident cropped up as quickly as the news, mainly because the swimmers had repeatedly changed their accounts of what happened. In particular, Lochte’s timeline didn’t match. No one could explain why robbers would take Lochte’s cash but not his cell phone or jewelry, which he is clearly wearing in security tape as he casually returns to the athlete village as if nothing had happened. Then there were questions as to why neither police nor US security were ever called, or why police could not locate the taxi driver.

Obviously, the supposed robbery was a story made up by the swimmers because after they damaged the gas station’s bathroom door while they were intoxicated, they didn’t want to be blamed for the embarrassing incident.
While Lochte left Brazil at the start of the incident, Conger and Bentz were pulled off a plane in Rio on Thursday and taken in for questioning.
Both were allowed to fly out of Rio on Thursday evening but not before the resulting scandal morphed into a huge embarrassment, both for Brazilian authorities who have tried hard to play down Rio’s reputation as a crime capital, and for the US, seen by many in the world as somehow being entitled and above rules and the law.

The US Olympic Committee has apologized for what it called the unacceptable behavior of the four swimmers, probably in the hopes that the incident will end without the swimmers facing charges of giving false testimony and vandalism.

But much damage has already been done. Brazilians see this whole story as nothing but an attempt to further denigrate and humiliate the nation and its law enforcement who are often accused of rarely doing anything about crime. Brazilians have endured the scathing glare of the global spotlight for months and are particularly incensed with this latest turn.

There have been thefts in Rio. The British Olympic Association said one of its athletes had been a victim of theft. The Australian team also said they had property stolen during a fire evacuation of the team’s building in the Olympic Village. And two visiting government ministers were also robbed. The difference is that these incidences did indeed happen. They were not made-up stories to cover up improper behavior.

The International Olympic Committee has been lenient, saying that these were “kids trying to have fun”. But Lochte is 32 and no “kid”. He is one of the best swimmers of all time but, unfortunately, he will forever be remembered for his tall tale, not his exploits in the pool.

Athletes in the Olympics are ambassadors of their countries and should act accordingly. Lochte and his colleagues do not seem especially patriotic and can aptly be called the ugly Americans.


August 20, 2016
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