Olympics

An American swimmer was allegedly caught on video breaking down a bathroom door at a gas station and fighting with a security guard in Brazil ... a police source tells ABC News.

Ryan Lochte is changing his tune about the alleged Rio robbery ... sorta ... with new claims about the incident that don't exactly jive with the story he told Billy Bush.

First, Matt Lauer says Lochte now insists he did NOT have a gun pressed up against his forehead during the incident -- but rather, one of the gunmen was pointing the gun in his general direction.

Lauer says he noticed one other difference when he spoke with the swimmer on the phone Wednesday night.

Lochte now says he did not get "pulled over" by men posing as police -- but rather, 2 men approached their taxi while it was parked at a gas station, where Lochte had used the restroom. Lochte says the crew tried to tell the taxi driver to go, but he wouldn't.

Lochte says he feels the differences are nothing more than a "traumatic mischaracterization."

Lauer says he asked Lochte if he made the story up to cover up something else the swimmers were doing that night -- and Ryan adamantly denied that.

10:30 PM PT -- A rep for the USOC says Conger and Bentz have both been released by local authorities ... but will remain in Brazil to continue discussions on Thursday, along with James Feigen, who the rep says is also in contact with investigators.

Team USA swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz -- who were with Ryan Lochte during the alleged robbery in Rio -- got yanked off an airplane as they were trying to leave Brazil.

The USOC confirms to TMZ Sports ... Conger and Bentz were detained by authorities, but says it's still gathering information as to find out exactly why.

Earlier on Tuesday, cops in Rio said they were suspicious of the swimmers' claim they were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning. The USOC says cops went to the Olympic Village to interview Lochte and teammate James Feigen, but discovered they'd already left -- Locate's actually back in the States.

NBC says Feigen was slated to be on the same flight with Bentz and Conger, but never showed up.

Looks like they nabbed Conger and Bentz at the last possible moment. Late Wednesday night, cops were still interviewing them at the airport.

Zac Efron's officially been put on notice ... Simone Biles' BF fired off the warning shot.

Arthur Nory Mariano -- also a stellar gymnast reppin' Brazil at the Olympics -- just tweeted at Zac to back off his gold medal winning GF. He's joking ... we think.

Arthur's an Olympic medalist and Zac's packing heat ... a very nice 12-pack for any party.

The question is ...

U.S. Olympic hero Katie Ledecky got her own private army at the airport in Virginia Wednesday morning -- but that's what happens when you're rockin' 4 GOLD MEDALS AROUND YOUR NECK!!!

The swimming sensation touched down earlier today -- and sported all 5 of her medals through Dulles International Airport (4 gold, 1 silver).

We counted at least 8 armed cops safely escorting Ledecky through the terminal.

As for Katie, she told us she's gonna take a break from swimming for a couple of weeks -- and if there's anyone who deserves it ...

A Brazilian judge has ordered for the IMMEDIATE seizure of Ryan Lochte's passport -- claiming he may have lied about a robbery incident in Rio ... but the swimmer is already back in the U.S.

Zac Efron stuck his landing in Rio, and immediately hooked up with Simone Biles ... moments after she nailed down her 4th gold medal.

The timing is no accident -- Simone crushed hard on Zac and the two exchanged some flirty tweets after The Final Five won gold in the team competition. Next thing ya know, BOOM ... Zac's flying south, and getting a smooch from Simone on the 'Today' set.

It's a good guess NBC paid for Zac's first class ticket to Rio.

Sure, it's just a kiss on the cheek, but at this point ... would you bet against Simone ending up with the gold?

It was a flop gone wrong for Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita -- when he ALMOST cleared the bar during a jump in Rio ... if not for his meddling penis.

While Ogita was midway through his jump on Saturday, his pocket Olympian got loose ... and unleashed his fleshy fury all over the bar ... knocking it off the stand.

You'd think a bunch of super tall, super athletic rich guys with beach houses would KILL IT at beach volleyball ... but you'd be wrong.

Here's Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, DeAndre Jordan and the rest of the Team USA hoops squad taking a break from the hardwood to mess around on the sand.

A bunch of Kerri Walshes they ain't.

Still, good to see the guys blowing off some steam and having fun before the medal rounds.

No handshake? No more Rio.

The Egyptian judo fighter who refused to shake hands with his Israeli opponent has just been sent home from the Olympics -- with his own Egyptian Olympic Committee blasting the guy as a poor sport.

In fact, the EOC says it "strongly condemned" the actions of Islam El Shehaby -- who famously backpeddled from the handshake after getting his ass was handed to him by Or Sasson.

The International Olympic Committee says it was the EOC's decision to yank El Shehaby from the games ... though the IOC issued a statement of its own, condemning his actions.

"[His behavior] was contrary to the rules of fair play and against the spirit of friendship embodied in the Olympic values."

This is the best.

This video from a MegaMart store in Kingston (it's like Costco) ... shows what happened ALL OVER JAMAICA Sunday night when Usain Bolt lined up for the 100m finals -- and it was AWESOME!!!

Everyone in the store went to the TV aisle (including employees) -- and cheered when they announced the runners.

And when Bolt won ... the place exploded!

How cool is this ... Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky recreating that famous 2006 autograph photo -- IN REVERSE!

The United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee both flatly denied Ryan Lochte or any other swimmer were victims of an armed robbery ... without even speaking with any of the victims.

It's hard to believe ... no one in either organization had the ability to contact the swimmers hours after the robbery, even though all four are living in the Olympic village.

As we reported, The IOC flatly denied a robbery had taken place, despite the fact that Lochte's mom told a Fox Sports reporter about the incident ... calling it, "terrifying."

An official from the USOC tells TMZ Sports, they jumped to the conclusion nothing had happened because they couldn't confirm something had. Yet that official admitted the U.S. Committee told the IOC it didn't happen without ever speaking to anyone involved.

For it's part, the IOC apparently never tried contacting any of the victims or Lochte's mom.

It would no doubt be bad for the games if a story got out that robbers were posing as police officers in Rio, hunting down tourists and robbing them with guns to their head.

He's the best tumbler in the history of Major League Baseball -- but was habitual flipper Ozzie Smith good enough to make the Olympic gymnastics team??

That's exactly what we asked the Hall of Famer when we saw him in L.A. Thursday -- and he seems pretty confident ... had he set his mind to it back in the day.

Smith was one hell of an athlete -- and seems fairly confident that he had the ability to succeed in gymnastics ... if he really honed in on it.

And after watching some of his famous flips ... we believe it.