Paralympic team robbed at gunpoint prompts calls for security in Rio

An Australian Paralympian robbed at gunpoint while riding her bicycle over the weekend in Rio de Janeiro called the city “a risky place” and said witnesses never tried to intervene.

“Then he just pushed me on the shoulder with his bare hand and i just fell down on the cobblestones”.

The security force will remain in place for the Paralympics which begin September 7 and the AOC has placed a private security firm in Rio on standby for the Games.

Tesch told Australia’s Channel Nine that she belived the assailants were looking for money, but only left with two bicycles.

Security is near the top of a long list of problems plaguing Rio ahead of the Olympics, including the Zika virus, water pollution, slow ticket sales, budget cuts, and massive governmental upheaval and corruption. “We’ve already had conversations about if anything happens, just give them what they want”. It was absolutely horrific, I can see it clear as day in my own head.it was a pistol. Tesch said she was shoved to the ground before she was robbed.

And two members of the Australian Paralympic sailing team were confronted by armed robbers who stole their bikes.

The AOC, Chiller said, had chose to engage a private security firm in Rio and were considering extending their existing ban on athletes entering favelas to other areas of the city.

“There have been several incidents over the past couple of months involving our team members and other Australians in Rio”.

Australian Sailing said the incident was reported to the local tourist police who are “offering ongoing assistance to the team and will continue to investigate”.

Australian Sailing and the Australian Paralympic Committee have expressed their concern at the event and clarified that the safety of Australian athletes is of paramount important for them.

“We have now made a decision to engage and work with a private security firm in Rio as well, to basically have them on standby, should we need our own private security forces at Games time”.

‘We have also been in constant contact with members of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who we have worked very closely with during our planning process for the Rio Games’. “It is a lot more than we had in London, but Rio is not London”, she said.

“The Rio organisers need to introduce the extra security precautions as soon as possible before an athlete gets hurt”, Australian team chef de mission Kitty Chiller said in a statement on Tuesday.