Logo

AP, TMZ, LA Times

Brazilian Judge Orders U.S. Olympic Athletes’ Passports Seized

Aug 17, 2016  •  Post A Comment

Two U.S. Olympians, both gold medal winners, have had their passports ordered seized by a judge in Brazil, the AP reports, with the order stemming from the widely publicized incident in which swimmer Ryan Lochte and others were reportedly robbed at gunpoint.

TMZ.com reported this morning that Lochte was already back in the U.S. as word came down that the judge had ordered the seizure of the passports of Lochte and fellow U.S. swimmer Jimmy Feigen. The report adds that Feigen’s whereabouts were unknown.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. Olympic Committee declined to confirm the location of either Lochte or Feigen. The Times quotes the committee saying: “The swim team moved out of the village after their competition ended, so we were not able to make the athletes available.”

The AP cited Lochte’s father confirming that Lochte was back in the U.S.

The judge was reportedly concerned that Lochte may have lied about the robbery incident. Along with Lochte and Feigen, teammates Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were reportedly robbed early Sunday by people posing as police officers during a taxi ride on the way back to the Olympic Village from a party at France’s hospitality venue.

TMZ quotes a statement from Brazilian authorities saying: “Judge Keyla Blanc De cnop, the Special Court of the Fan and Major Events, ordered the dispatch of search warrants and seizure of passports of American swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen.

“With this, they are prohibited from leaving the country.”

Brazilian authorities have said they have found no evidence of a crime in their investigation of the alleged robbery.

Lochte won a gold medal in Rio as part of the U.S. men’s 4×200 freestyle relay team. He has a total of 12 Olympic medals going back to the Athens Games in 2004. Feigen won a gold medal in Rio as part of the 4×100 relay team, and is a silver medal winner from the London Games.

olympics rio 2016

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)