Who is American swimmer Klete Keller? Ex-Olympian accused of presence at US Capitol riots

On Tuesday, reports confirmed that former Olympic swimmer Klete Keller was among the crowd of pro-Trump rioters who stormed the US Capitol last week. Video footage appeared to show the two-time Olympic gold medalist maskless while wearing a Team USA jacked during the rampage. The former athlete's social media accounts were also quickly deleted later on Tuesday and several netizens have been curious to know more about Klete Keller, who was once teammates with Michael Phelps. 

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Who is American swimmer Klete Keller? 

Keller was one of many 2000 Olympic medalists from The Race Club World Team, a summer swimming camp in Florida. He was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and graduated from Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona. 

He rose to fame for being part of the US swim team at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, anchoring the 4x200 freestyle. In 2004 in Athens, he notably held off Australia's Ian Thorpe to help his team - which featured Michael Phelps - win the gold medal. The US relay swim team of Keller, Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Peter Vanderkaay remained undefeated in competitions from the Athens Games onwards.

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Klete Keller medals and honours

Keller attended the University of Southern California in 2000 but left just a year later to pursue a career in swimming. He later rejoined the University in 2007 to complete his bachelor's degree. During his time at USC, Keller won several individual and relay Pac-10 and NCAA Championships in the 200, 500 and 1,650-yard freestyle, as well as freestyle relays.

Keller won two bronze medals, one silver medal, and two gold medals during his swimming career. He also set the American record for the 400m freestyle in 2004 and the world record for the 4x200 freestyle in 2007. Both records have since been broken. Following his career as a swimmer, Keller reportedly worked a series of jobs in sales. 

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Klete Keller spotted at US Capitol riots?

According to reports from SwimSwam, Keller now lives in Colorado Springs. He recently grabbed headlines after being spotted in a video from inside the Capitol Rotunda which was posted on Tuesday by a reporter for the conservative news outlet Townhall. 

Keller deleted all of his social media accounts since being spotted at the riots. However, he has shown his support for Donald Trump on social media in the past. One of the most recent public photos of him on Instagram is from 2017, taken at an event outside Boston.

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Image Credits - Deborah Roberts Twitter