This was the moment that Olympic great Ryan Lochte and his shaken teammates slunk back into the Athletes Village after a night of partying ended in a chilling gunpoint robbery.

Exclusive surveillance footage obtained by Daily Mail Online shows Lochte and fellow swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen looking drained and agitated as they traipse back into the secure compound.

The four drop their phones and keys into plastic trays but are in such a hurry to get inside they forget to remove their belts and watches before filing through metal detectors.

First sighting: Ryan Lochte (circled) seen walking into the athletes' village after he and Gunnar Bentz (center), Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen were robbed

Through security: Lochte and (left) Jimmy Feigen and (right) Jack Conger were so agitated when they went through screening that they forgot to take off their belts

Thoroughly checked: Lochte was patted down with a metal detecting wand when the four swimmers made their way through security shortly before 7am

Horseplay: Lochte was seen hitting Feigen over the head with his accreditation in an apparent attempt at humor

Pat down: A security worker asked Jack Conger to show what had set off detection equipment and used a metal detection wand. The rattled athletes had not taken off belts to go through security

'The guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, 'Get down,' and I put my hands up, I was like 'whatever',' Lochte told NBC's Billy Bush

Despite the ordeal, Lochte engages in horseplay with Feigen, hitting him over the head with his Olympic accreditation, which is in a laminated plastic wallet.

An attendant in an official Rio 2016 jacket then frisks them with a handheld device and scans their passes before finally letting them proceed to the safety of the village, which has been home to 18,000 athletes, coaches and officials during the Games.

The footage, captured by security camera just inside a checkpoint, is time-stamped 6:56am Sunday, several hours after the four gold medal winners say they were targeted by an armed gang posing as police.

ROBBERY TIMELINE - WHAT WE KNOW (AND WHAT WE DON'T KNOW) Saturday, 11pm: Club France opens for special celebration Sunday 2.25am: Lochte posts video of himself and Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira inside the club. They later leave the club, buy popcorn from a street vendor and go to a gas station to hail a cab 5am: Club France closes 6.56am: Security footage records the four arriving at the athletes' village - meaning that the robbery took place between 2.25am and some point before 6.53am. Midday: First reports of Lochte's robbery - which the IOC denies happened Monday: Lochte discusses the robbery with NBC's Billy Bush, and hours later the IOC apologizes for the security lapse. Police say they are hunting the taxi driver Advertisement

The Team USA friends had spent the night at an all-night clubbing event hosted by the France hospitality house on the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon in Rio's upmarket Lagoa district.

At 2:25am Lochte posted a video of himself and Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira inside the venue, panning around to show the crowd and light display.

Lochte, 32, Bentz, 20, Conger, 21, and 26-year-old Feigen are said to have left the exclusive 11pm-to-5am event and bought popcorn from a street vendor before hailing a cab.

'We got pulled over in the taxi and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing, just a police badge and they pulled us over,' 12-time Olympic medalist Lochte told NBC.

'They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground, they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didn't do anything wrong, so I'm not getting down on the ground.

'And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said,"Get down."'

Police probing the harrowing ambush have not been able to pinpoint exactly when and where it happened because the victims couldn't remember.

They have footage of the four hailing their cab outside a gas station but not of the vehicle pulling over the ambush itself. They have not made the footage public.

Happening that night: This was the flyer for the club night at Club France, with a series of DJs performing until 5am

Venue: Club France was open until 5am on the day the four were robbed. They left together, bought popcorn from a street vendor , then hailed a cab at a gas station

Concern: 'There is a lot of crime around here - it's dangerous at any time,' one woman, who asked not to be named, who works at the club

Daily Mail Online has learnt that detectives are yet to track down the taxi driver despite issuing an appeal for him to come forward.

Police sources say this lends weight to suspicions of an 'inside job' with the taxi driver perhaps tipping off the gang about his wealthy American passengers.

'This could suggest to us that the taxi driver was involved in the robbery, either as someone posing as a taxi driver or who tips the gang off and gets part of the loot,' said our source.

'The involvement of taxi drivers in robberies has been seen before. That this may have been an inside job is our main line of inquiry.'

The four Americans told police their attackers stripped them of their wallets containing 700 Reals - equivalent to $224 - but surprisingly didn't take their phones.

Sources say the gang may have assumed the phones would be locked and that the dazed swimmers wouldn't know the Brazilian equivalent of 911.

Olympic officials initially denied the incident had taken place before issuing a red-faced apology a day later.

The Games' spokesman, Mario Andrada, said: 'We obviously regret that the violence has (gotten) so close to athletes.

'We have requested security authorities that they need to make sure everybody's safe everywhere in the city. We apologize to those involved.'

Daily Mail Online revealed in the wake of the robbery that Lochte has made other questionable decisions about his personal safety at Rio 2016.

Lochte and the friends he was with at the nightclub also posted a video of the shoes they were wearing, along with the caption, '6k deep', which could be referring to the value of the shoes

Lochte shared a video on Snapchat in the early hours of Sunday morning at Club France

Golden boy" Lochte poses with his latest Olympic gold for a special Today show feature

He was pictured last Friday night in our exclusive photos walking alone and without security from the Athlete's Village to a nearby hotel to visit his Playboy model girlfriend, Kayla Rae Reid.

The star was wearing a baseball cap and trying to keep a low profile as he used a side entrance before walking across poorly lit wasteland.

But he could be easily identified by his Team USA tracksuit and, when he removed the cap, his shock of silvery-blue hair.

He was also clutching a bag that is believed to have contained the Olympic gold medal which he won earlier this week in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

If he was attempting to be discreet, Reid gave the game away moments later when she posted a pic of the medal on her bed.

In the hours before Sunday morning's robbery Lochte also posted a video to his public Snapchat account of four sets of feet, presumably including his own, with the message '6k deep'.

The caption was perhaps a reference to how much their smart footwear was collectively worth, with at least of the two people wearing Adidas Yeezy Boost 350s - worth $1,500 a pair.

Lochte, Bentz, Conger, and Feigen have all picked up gold medals in Rio.