Gunnar Bentz apologizes, releases statement on Rio incident with Ryan Lochte
First, Ryan Lochte issued a public apology on Friday afternoon addressing how he handled his account of events surrounding a gas station incident after a night out in Rio. Then fellow Team USA swimmer Gunnar Bentz — who was with Lochte that evening, and was just recently permitted to return to the United States — issued a statement via The University of Georgia in hopes of clarifying and clearing the air.
The 20-year-old Bentz, a student at the University of Georgia, began his lengthy statement with an apology:
And then Bentz got into the specifics of what happened during the evening in question:
The IOC said it had set up a disciplinary commission to investigate the incident, and whether or not to sanction the swimmers. The U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming are also expected to weigh in on a punishment.
