DHAKA: US swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger have flown out of Rio de Janeiro after being questioned by police over an incident at a petrol station, the US Olympic Committee (USOC) has confirmed.

They were taken off a plane as they tried to leave Brazil on Wednesday.

The pair and their two teammates, Ryan Lochte and James Feigen, are accused of lying by telling officials they were robbed by gunmen on Sunday.

Lochte has already flown back to the US, while Feigen is still in Brazil.

Rio’s civil police head Fernando Veloso earlier said the four Olympic gold medallist had not been robbed.

“No robbery was committed against these athletes. They were not victims of the crimes they claimed,” he said.

He told reporters that one or more of the athletes had instead vandalized a toilet in a petrol station and then offered to pay for the damage.

The Americans paid and left after armed security guards intervened, he said.

One guard had justifiably drawn his gun after one of the swimmers began behaving erratically, Veloso added.

He also warned that the swimmers, who have repeatedly changed their accounts of what happened, could “in theory” face charges of giving false testimony and vandalism.

But later on Thursday, the men’s lawyer Sergio Riera said Bentz and Conger had been allowed to leave the country by a special Olympic court.

The USOC statement confirmed the version of events given by Veloso, and added that “the behavior of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team USA”.

BDST: 0851 HRS, AUG 19, 2016
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