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Apology by American Olympic Swimmer Does Little to Abate Flood of Reaction


American swimmer Ryan Lochte bites into his gold medals after the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Aug. 9, 2016. (Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports )
American swimmer Ryan Lochte bites into his gold medals after the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Aug. 9, 2016. (Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports )

Five days after he claimed he was held up at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro, 12-time Olympic medal-winning swimmer American Ryan Lochte apologized for not being "more careful and candid" in his description of what exactly happened in the early hours Sunday at a gas station in Brazil.

But nowhere in his apology did Lochte address whether or not he lied about being robbed at gunpoint by men posing as police.

Here is Lochte's statement in full:

Perhaps that's why the Twitter hashtag #lochte is alive and well.

Tweets range from the humorous to accounts of his privileged upbringing to ugly accusations of racism all the way to just plain online shaming.

Here is a sampling:

Al Roker, who adopted a stronger tone compared to his tweet, and his co-anchors discussed the scandal on NBC, where Lochte had made appearance.

Here is Lochte on NBC News on August 15, a day after the incident.

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