When the news broke that Ryan Lochte and three of his U.S. swimming teammates reportedly made up the story about getting robbed Sunday in Rio, the internet had a blast with a tons of tweets, memes and GIFs poking fun and the swimming great for lying.
The bizarre story that is seemingly untrue, involved Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen. The four athletes told authorities that on their way back from a party they were robbed by several armed men. Lochte told media members that one man pointed a gun at him and demanded his belongings, however, in the days following some of the details in his story began to change and raised questions.
On Wednesday, a judge ordered that his and Feigen's passports be seized so they could not leave the country. Lochte though had already returned to the U.S. a day earlier. When his fellow teammates Bentz and Conger tried to board a plane from Rio to the states that evening, they were escorted off and detained by law enforcement. Then on Thursday, a Brazilian police source said that Lochte and company lied about the robbery story to try and cover up a fight they had with a security guard, who did brandish a weapon, after one or all of the swimmers vandalized a restroom at a gas station.
Security footage of #LochteGate has been released showing the swimmers leaving a bathroom after they destroyed it. pic.twitter.com/cuTVfC6q9Y
— Jessie Karangu (@JMKTV) August 18, 2016
Following the release of the video evidence, the internet has had a ball at Lochte's expense. Here are some of the best tweets, memes and GIFs put out by savvy Twitter users during #LochteGate and #LochMess:
How it really went down at the gas station... #LochteGate pic.twitter.com/f7RUtoVT2J
— Bill the Butcher (@NotBTB) August 18, 2016
BREAKING: Ryan Lochte was robbed by Manti Te’o’s girlfriend.
— The H2 (@TheH2) August 18, 2016
"I was there. I saw the guns." - Brian Williams probably #LochteGate
— laire (@laire) August 18, 2016
Hey @MichaelPhelps, how many more times do you think @RyanLochte will change his story? #LochteGate pic.twitter.com/Uay6nsrM4a
— YeSUV (@IslesWhiteSUV) August 18, 2016
Rio police- ryan, we have the video from the gas station
Ryan- #LochteGate pic.twitter.com/ST9J2P7ZHC— ♡ (@dwstefffff) August 18, 2016
When you find out your whole team is a bunch of immature little boys who piss all over the place #LochteGate pic.twitter.com/VYfAcJ15Cr
— Bryan Haupt (@bryan_haupt) August 18, 2016
Obviously, it's time to bring out this classic. #LochMess #LochteGate pic.twitter.com/3o8OCXu9RN
— Feminist Hazza (@FeministHazza) August 18, 2016
Authorities: You say someone robbed you?
#RyanLochte: pic.twitter.com/SCByc835e5— Alex Blank Millard (@Hippoinatutu) August 18, 2016
Waiting for the #RyanLochte apology. pic.twitter.com/zOyeq4Npmp
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 18, 2016
Ryan and his PR team trying to clean up this mess. #lochtegate pic.twitter.com/Tn7eqWKKJW
— Ashley Wood (@awood511) August 18, 2016
So Ryan Lochte made up the whole thing just to hide the fact he fought a gas station security guard..... #LochteGate pic.twitter.com/7UCiYVPTHc
— ♕ Nathan ♕ (@MrInternationl) August 18, 2016
Ryan Lochte leaving his teammates to answer questions in Rio like... pic.twitter.com/Z2uCFibp2Y
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) August 18, 2016
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