Is Ryan Lochte's Instagram apology good enough?

Brazilian officials say Lochte fabricated robbery claim

(Matt Hazlett/Getty Images)

DETROIT – Ryan Lochte took to Instagram Friday to apologize after his U.S. swimming teammates admitted they weren't robbed -- as Lochte reported -- Sunday morning in Brazil.

ReadLochte apologizes for his behavior in Rio incident

Teammate James Feigen agreed to pay $10,800 to a Brazilian charity and returned home Thursday. Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, who were pulled off their flight back to the U.S. Wednesday night, denied having been victims of a robbery.

They said Lochte's account of what happened wasn't true.

You can read about the full chain of events below.

Is Lochte's apology enough?

Lochte responded on his Instagram account Friday morning, saying, "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."

Lochte's post said he waited until the legal situation was addressed to speak out. He said it was a traumatic experience to "have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave" while out with friends in a foreign country.

He apologized to his teammates, fans, competitors, sponsors and the hosts of the Olympics.

Here's the full apology:

After all the events that took place over the last week -- Lochte leaving Rio despite being ordered to stay, leaving his teammates to answer legally in Brazil and taking the spotlight away from the action competition -- is Lochte's social media apology enough?

Lochte's claim

The four swimmers said they were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi Sunday morning as they returned to the athletes' village from a party. One of the bandits reportedly put a gun to Lochte's forehead, according to CNN.

The vehicle was "stopped by individuals posing as armed police officers who demanded the athletes' money and other personal belongings," said USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky.

"We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a police badge, no lights, no nothing -- just a police badge and they pulled us over," Lochte told NBC. "They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground -- they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didn't do anything wrong, so -- I'm not getting down on the ground."

Police said they have found little evidence to support the robbery claim. Lochte's attorney said there's no question the robbery happened.

Official speaks against Lochte

A Brazilian police official said Lochte fabricated the claim that he and three of his teammates were robbed at gunpoint Sunday morning in Brazil.

The official, who has direct knowledge of the investigation, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about an ongoing probe, the AP reported.

He said that around 6 a.m. on Sunday, Lochte, along with fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen, stopped at a gas station in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio where many Olympic venues are located. One of the swimmers tried to open the door of an outside bathroom. It was locked.

A few of the swimmers then pushed on the door and broke it. A security guard appeared and confronted them, the official said.

The official says the guard was armed with a pistol, but he never took it out or pointed it at the swimmers.

According to the official, the gas station manager then arrived. Using a customer to translate, the manager asked the swimmers to pay for the broken door. After a discussion, they did pay him an unknown amount of money and then left.

The official says that swimmers Conger and Bentz, who were pulled off a plane going back to the United States late Wednesday, told police that the robbery story had been fabricated.