American Klete Keller, who won two Olympic gold medals as a teammate of Michael Phelps, was identified last week among Donald Trump’s supporters inside the US Capitol, according to several reports.
SwimSwam, a swimming news site, said in a report that at least a dozen people in the sport had identified Keller after reviewing the videos and screenshots of the riot.
USA Swimming did not respond when asked if it could confirm whether Keller was part of the crowd that entered the legislative complex, while lawmakers began certifying the victory of Democrat Joe Biden’s November 3 election over Trump.
Reuters’ attempts to reach Keller were unsuccessful.
A woman who answered the phone for the real estate agency in Colorado and Ohio, where Keller works, told Reuters: “We don’t comment on anything now” and then hung up.
In one of the videos, made by a reporter from the conservative Townhall press, a man identified as Keller is seen among the crowd that police officers are trying to push to the exits of the US Chapter.
Keller is a five-time Olympic medalist, who prevented the great Australian Ian Thorpe on the anchor leg of the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Games to win gold for the United States.
The world of swimming
(@SwimmingWorld)Olympic champion Klete Keller appears to have been in the US Chapter during the insurrection – https://t.co/JiDwxgSPog pic.twitter.com/9b0zwbLXCH
Swimming World also claimed that it confirmed with sources that Keller was seen in the US Chapter and added that the videos do not show any violence on the part of the 38-year-old. The Guardian could not independently verify that the person in the videos was Keller.
According to the New York Times, Keller deleted his accounts on social networks, several of which were said to have included a flow of pro-Trump messages in recent years.
Trump urged thousands of supporters to go to the Capitol last Wednesday, causing chaos in which crowds broke into the building and forced the evacuation of both the US Senate and the House of Representatives.
Five people, including a police officer, died as a result of the outburst.