It’s been an intense week for Ryan Lochte and his Olympic teammates after they claimed to have been robbed and held at gunpoint while in Rio.

The 12-time Olympic medalist was under fire on Wednesday after a Brazil judge sensed a few holes in their stories and issued a search and seizure warrant for Lochte and four of his colleagues to surrender their passports and not leave the country. Unfortunately, Lochte had already fled back to the U.S.

The gold medalist took to social media to apologize for the incident, saying that he delayed releasing the statement until his three teammates caught in the scandal had been cleared by Brazilian authorities to return home.

He wrote, “I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics.”

Although Lochte still views himself as a victim, he admits that it doesn’t excuse how he acted, saying, “It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country with a language barrier and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave, but regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that I am sorry to my teammates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors, and the hosts of this great event.”

Two swimmers, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, arrived in the United States early Friday morning, while the third, Jimmy Feigen, has been cleared to leave Rio after agreeing to donate nearly $11,000 to a local charity.

SOURCE: NBC News | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Instagram

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