Ryan Lochte: 'I exaggerated Rio robbery claim'
US swimming gold medallist Ryan Lochte has appeared on Brazilian national television to admit he had exaggerated a story about being robbed at gunpoint.
The 32-year-old accepted he had built up parts of the story, but insisted he didn't lie.
On Friday, Lochte apologised for the way he handled claims about the robbery, which caused outrage across Brazil.
In a separate interview with NBC News, Lochte also apologised to swimming teammates Jimmy Feigen, 26, Jack Conger, 21, and Gunnar Bentz, 20, who police stopped from leaving Brazil over the incident.
The United States Olympic Committee has already described the conduct of the quartet as "not acceptable".
In an interview aired on Globo TV, Lochte apologised to Brazil.
"I'm sorry", Lochte, one of America's most decorated Olympic swimmers, said. "Brazil doesn't deserve that."
The Olympian insisted that he was a victim of extortion because he was forced by armed guards to hand over money.
"I wasn't lying to a certain extent, I over-exaggerated what was happening to me", he said.
During the NBC News interview, Lochte said he had "let my team down" and didn't want his teammates to think he'd "left them out to dry".