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U.S. swimmers made a mistake, says Rio 2016 spokesman

Rio 2016 Olympics communicatons director Mario Andrada gives a news conference about reports that a bullet tore through the media tent at the Deodoro Olympic Equestrian Center, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 6, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile (Reuters)

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Rio Games organisers on Thursday defended four U.S. Olympic swimmers whose accounts of an armed robbery at the weekend are under question by Brazilian police, saying they were just kids who were having fun and made a mistake. "These kids tried to have fun, they tried to represent their country to the best of their abilities," Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada told reporters said, without elaborating. "They competed under gigantic pressure. Let's give these kids a break. Sometime you take actions that you later regret. They had fun, they made a mistake, life goes on." (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Mark Bendeich)