2016 Rio Olympics: Australian swimmer Josh Palmer reportedly robbed

Australian swimmer Josh Palmer was reportedly robbed during a night out at the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

The 2016 Rio Olympics have been very eventful for a variety of reasons. Not only have records fallen and athletes given extraordinary performances, there have been a lot of strange things happening away from the sports. Ryan Lochte and a group of swimmers were reportedly robbed, but it now seems as though that was a fabrication. Now, another swimmer, Australian Josh Palmer, was allegedly robbed during a night out in Rio. Emma McKeon, who has won four medals this Olympics, was disciplined along with Palmer.

While Palmer absolutely deserves the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty, Lochte’s situation makes Palmer’s appear less credible. If Palmer isn’t telling the whole story, it wouldn’t be the first time that an alleged robbery during the Olympics turned out to be a fake.

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Palmer was allegedly out with a friend before an unknown person forced him to make a $1,000 cash withdrawal from an ATM. It is interesting that he has not elected to make a formal complaint to the police about the robbery, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he isn’t telling the truth.

A group of businessmen found Palmer disoriented, which supports the part of his story that he was out drinking. Still, he likely shouldn’t have been out in Rio past curfew, especially with all of the reported crime and security issues.

Both Palmer and McKeon will not be attending the closing ceremonies as punishment for missing curfew. McKeon has won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle, two silver medals in the 4×200 meter freestyle and the 4×100 meter medley, and a bronze medal in the 200 meter freestyle. Palmer participated in the 100 meter breaststroke and is currently ranked 30th in the world. Note to all swimmers in Rio: only bad things happen after curfew.