RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Usain Bolt and Ryan Lochte commanded the Olympic spotlight Thursday for drastically different reasons.
Bolt is going for an unprecedented third consecutive sweep of the 100- and 200-meter sprints Thursday in an accomplishment that would further elevate his status as the most decorated male sprinter in Olympic history. But for most of the day, all anyone was talking about surrounding the Olympics was an encounter at a gas station restroom in Rio de Janeiro.
Lochte originally said he and his teammates were pulled over in their taxi by men with a badge and robbed at gunpoint during a night of partying Sunday after their competition wrapped up. A law enforcement official now says that account was false and that the incident occurred after Lochte and his teammates vandalized a gas station bathroom, breaking the door and soap dispenser. The official says two security guards pointed guns at the swimmers, but it’s still unclear what exactly happened during the encounter.
The episode served as a distraction from several notable events on the field of competition Thursday, including a dazzling round by American golfer Stacy Lewis and several medals getting handed out in track and field.
Bolt is running in the finals of the 200-meters and going for his third straight sprint double after winning the 100 and 200 in the London and Beijing Games. The Jamaican is heavily favored to pull off the feat again after already winning the 100, but will face competition from Andre de Grasse of Canada and American Lawshawn Merritt, who actually has the year’s best time at 200 meters.