Australian Olympic chiefs have requested that Rio Games organizers "improve security after a paralympian and her physiotherapist were robbed at gunpoint," according to Matt Cotton of the LONDON TIMES. The Australian Paralympic Committee said that sailor and wheelchair basketball player Liesl Tesch and Sarah Ross, a team official, "were confronted by two men, one of them carrying a pistol, demanding money." Australian Paralympic Team Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin said that the Australian duo, who were out cycling, were robbed of their bikes after being shoved off them, and have been left "understandably shaken but unhurt." Sunday's incident is the "latest in a crimewave sweeping the Brazilian host city." Australian Olympic Committee Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller "urged the organisers to mobilise security forces immediately rather than wait until nearer the event’s official opening on August 5." Chiller: "The Rio organizers need to introduce the extra security precautions as soon as possible before an athlete gets hurt. We have written to them asking them to address this issue. This is not an isolated incident, athletes have been mugged while training or competing in Rio test events and we want our athletes protected" (LONDON TIMES, 6/21).
