Olympics

File Under: "Perks of Being a Winner" ... 'cause EVERY. SINGLE. AMERICAN ATHLETE who won a medal in Rio is being offered a FREE gold grill ... courtesy of rapper Paul Wall.

Ryan Lochte fought back tears as he confessed ... he screwed over his teammates by going nuts at a Rio gas station and then lying about it.

Matt Lauer asked Lochte about the difficulties fellow swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger had when they tried getting out of Rio ... Lochte seems way more contrite than he did in his statement where he hedged on fault.

Ryan Lochte has plenty of staunch defenders left -- including police officers -- behind the gates of his Charlotte neighborhood ... TMZ has learned.

The embattled swimmer flew back Wednesday to the Carolina town where he now lives, and sources in his hood tell us Charlotte PD has at least two patrol cars dedicated to keeping haters, fans and media away from Lochte.

We're told police are posted at the security gate entrance, and there's another patrol car cruising the blocks around Lochte's house.

One source told us the Homeowner's Association is also keeping an eye on Ryan's place, and officers -- of the HOA, that is -- have banned interlopers for up to 99 years!

We're told there's been no sign of Ryan at the house since he got back to the States.

Ryan Lochte was not the only swimmer who lied to the U.S. Olympic Committee about the so-called "robbery." TMZ has learned all 4 of them told the same false tale.

An official from the USOC tells us the Committee interviewed Lochte as well as Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger Sunday and all 4 told the exact same lie -- that they were in a cab when robbers posing as armed cops stopped their cab and demanded cash.

We're also told the 4 swimmers were interviewed individually, so they had clearly gone over their story beforehand.

TMZ reported Sunday ... an IOC official told us when they issued the initial denial of the incident occurred they were relying on the USOC, but the USOC official says they did indeed interview the 4 swimmers Sunday and they all told the story Lochte ended up telling on TV.

Ryan Lochte is finally doing a mea culpa for the lie he told on NBC that's become an international incident ... but he kind of doubled down on the version of events he told cops.

Lochte just posted ... "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. I waited to share these thoughts until it was confirmed that the legal situation was addressed and it was clear that my teammates would be arriving home safely."

Lochte continues ... "It's traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country - with a language barrier - and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave, but regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that I am sorry to my teammates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors, and the hosts of this great event."

He goes on to say he's proud to rep the USA in Olympic competition and this was a situation that could and should have been avoided.

He adds, "I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned some valuable lessons. I am grateful for my USA Swimming teammates and the USOC, and appreciate all of the efforts of the IOC, the Rio '16 Host Committee, and the people of Brazil who welcomed us to Rio and worked so hard to make sure that these Olympic Games provided a lifetime of great new memories."

"There has already been too much said and too many valuable resources dedicated to what happened last weekend, so I hope we spend our time celebrating the great stories and performances of these Games and look ahead to celebrating future successes."

The statement is clearly crafted to thwart police efforts to have Lochte prosecuted. The biggest problem the swimmer faces ... going on TV, trashing the city by claiming armed men posed as cops robbed him as he was innocently taking a cab back to the Village.

Ryan Lochte told the U.S. Olympic Committee the same lie he told NBC, and he now faces possible discipline in addition to criminal charges ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Lochte and familiar with the situation tell us, Ryan repeated the story to USOC officials ... that he and his fellow swimmers were in a cab going back to the Olympic Village when men posing as cops robbed them and took their wallets.

The USOC and the IOC took heat Sunday after Lochte told the lie on TV. However, we're told once it heard the reports, the USOC got in touch with Ryan immediately, who said the story was untrue and the USOC passed that info to the IOC.

We've now learned after Lochte went on TV, USOC officials talked to him and he repeated the concocted story line and verse.

TMZ has also learned Lochte is preparing an apology to the U.S. and Brazil.

Talk about two guys STOKED to be home.

Here's Team USA swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz finally returning to the states ... after Brazilian officials pulled them off their homebound flight earlier this week.

Conger and Bentz were part of the Ryan Lochte party crew that allegedly vandalized a Rio gas station bathroom Sunday morning and then lied about it to police.

The two were interviewed by police -- but were ultimately allowed to fly home on Thursday.

How much does it cost to make an international bathroom scandal go away in Rio?? Just short of $11,000 ... at least for Team USA swimmer Jimmy Feigen.

Ryan Lochte and his crew paid around $400 to the Rio gas station owner for a sandwich sign they cracked during their drunken escapade, and the amount of cash may actually help the boys.

Our guy in Rio got a pic of the damage, and all you see is a slight crack on the plastic cover of a sign on the wall outside the bathroom. Although cops talked about a mirror that was broken in the bathroom, we saw no evidence of this and someone who works there said the sign was the only thing damaged.

Lochte claims he and the other swimmers offered around $50 for the damage but the station wanted more. Our Lochte sources tell us he paid around $400.

Our sources say by extracting exponentially more than the damage warranted, with the help of a gun, that constituted robbery and therefore the police report was not false.

Ryan Lochte and the 3 other Team USA swimmers were rolling like true VIPs when they cruised into a Brazilian nightclub ... about 4 hours before their alleged robbery sparked an international incident.

Surveillance footage at Club France shows Lochte, James Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger breezed past the line of normies waiting at 1:47 AM to get inside.

At 5:47 AM they walked out of the club, interestingly, the Olympic heroes had zero chicks with them.

As we reported ... Lochte's camp denies Rio police claims that 2 female witnesses at the gas station were with the swimmers.

Brazilian MMA legend Royce Gracie has a message to Ryan Lochte -- cut the crap and tell the TRUTH already!

We spoke with Gracie moments ago about the Lochte situation in his home country -- and Gracie told us he's sick and tired of the lies.

"You are a professional athlete. The young generation is looking up to you ... come clean."

Gracie believes the root of the problem is alcohol -- with Brazilian officials saying Lochte and the other 3 swimmers were hammered when they vandalized a gas station bathroom in Rio.

"He needs to clean up his act and stop drinking," Gracie says ... "People will respect him more."

"As an athlete I am on a different level. I don’t drink, never smoked. He should know that and he forgets what the life of an athlete is."

3:34 PM PT -- ABC News appears to have backed off the indictment story and now says federal cops are "recommending" indictment.

Ryan Lochte and James Feigen have been indicted in Rio for filing a false police report ... this according to ABC News.

Sources connected to the 2 swimmers tell TMZ, they're "not surprised" at the turn of events, but they add Ryan and Jimmy told the truth. They reiterated, as Ryan initially said, the swimmers were in a cab, they were confronted by men who appeared to be police and at that point there is a lapse of 3 minutes on the video.

When the video restarts the swimmers come out with their hands up, Ryan is standing and then goes down. And the sources add armed security took their money.

Jimmy Feigen is still in Rio and could be arrested. Ryan is back in the U.S.

The crime of filing a false police report is punishable by 6 months in jail. We've done some checking and the crime is not listed as an extraditable offense, which means the U.S. cannot force Lochte to go back to Rio for prosecution.

Cops in Rio are making things personal by claiming Ryan Lochte's teammates rolled over on him, and by dragging random women into the story ... according to sources connected to the swimmer.

Sources in Lochte's camp tell us the police news conference was full of lies -- including the bit about two female witnesses the cops said were hanging with the 4 U.S. swimmers. We're told that's absolutely BS ... and a personal attack designed to make the guys look bad, especially since some of them have girlfriends.

Lochte's camp also says there's no truth to the cops' claim one of the swimmers confessed to lying. We're told Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen all stand united on what went down, including the fact a gun was used to commit the robbery.

Ryan Lochte did not lie about the "robbery" incident ... and there are 3 minutes of missing surveillance video that will back up most of his story ... this according to sources directly connected to the swimmer.

Our sources say Lochte and his team claim they were indeed taken out of a cab at gunpoint, but the video doesn't show that because the gas station edited it out.

We're told Lochte mistook the uniforms worn by the security guards as police uniforms, and he claims during the missing 3 minutes he and the other swimmers were pulled out of the taxi at gunpoint.

As for his claim the cab was pulled over en route, one of the sources concedes, "That's a problem."

And our Lochte sources say reports that his 3 teammates admitted the story was a lie are untrue.

In fact ... Jimmy Feigen just spoke with local news in San Antonio, denying a cover-up and affirming he was robbed.

9:08 AM PT -- Security camera footage from the gas station shows the swimmers walking through a hallway back toward the bathroom, and then leave. You can't see what happens by the bathroom door.

Once they get in their taxi though, gas station employees approach and after some discussion they all get out of the cab. At the very end of the footage ... the swimmers have their hands up and it appears they're being forced to sit on the ground.

There's no gun visible in the video.

Ryan Lochte and his teammates left out a huge part of their "robbery" story -- which is that they busted up a gas station bathroom, and THEN a security guard pulled a gun on them ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Sources connected to James Feigen tell us the real deal is ... the 4 swimmers -- including Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz -- were on their way home from a party early Sunday morning when they stopped to take a leak at a gas station. We're told one or more of the guys was peeing outside the bathroom, and also kicked in the bathroom door.

Our sources say the swimmers were all wasted.

That's when the gas station's armed security guard rolled up, pulled his gun and demanded they pay for the damage. We're told he did take money from the swimmers, but only to cover the expenses, and then let them go.

Rio police say the gas station manager tells a slightly different story -- claiming the guard never pulled the gun and the manager merely asked them to pay, which they did.

Bottom line ... it's possible Lochte and co. didn't lie about a gun or losing money. However, they DID create a whole bogus scenario about their taxi getting pulled over and fake badges -- and totally omitted the part about them starting the trouble in the first place. On Wednesday night, Lochte repeated most of those lies to Matt Lauer.

They could face prosecution for lying to Rio cops. They have a news conference scheduled for later Thursday.