Australian Gold medalist and her coach robbed at gunpoint in Rio

by Sail-World.com on 20 Jun 2016 Two members of the Australian Sailing and the Australian Paralympic Committee have been robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning, local time.

Australian Sailing reports that 2012 Gold medalist, Liesl Tesch and team official, Sarah Ross, were confronted by two men while riding their bikes in a park near their hotel. One of the men was carrying a pistol and while both were threatened, the bikes were the only property stolen during the incident.

Tesch (47) is a six time Olympian competing in the SKUD18 two person class. She was part of the Gold medal winning crew in the SKUD18 in Weymouth in 2012. She was injured in a mountain bike accident at the age of 19. She competed in her national wheelchair basketball team at five paralympics, winning three medals, and was the first woman to play the sport professionally. She took up sailing in 2010, winning a gold medal in 2012.

Both members are unharmed, but understandably shaken, and took part in racing at the Paralympic sailing venue later in the day.

“We were returning from a morning ride when the incident took place,” said Tesch. “We were close to our hotel when we were confronted by two men, one of whom was armed. I was threatened with the pistol and pushed to the ground. He took my bike, and the other perpetrator took Sarah’s bike. We are both shaken, but physically we’re both OK.'

The incident was reported to the local tourist police who are offering ongoing assistance to the team and will continue to investigate.
'

The incident is the third involving sailing competitors building up to the Rio Olympics.

In mid-May three members of the Spanish sailing team were held up and robbed at gunpoint walking to a cafe for an early morning coffee.

2008 Olympic Gold medalist in the Tornado multihull, Fernando Echavarri and crew Tara Pacheco and their coach, former world champion Santi López-Vázquez, were approached by five people armed with two pistols. Fortunately there was no injury, but were robbed of the electronic devices they were carrying plus money.

Lopez-Vazquez explained after the event that 'there were five children with two pistols. To me they have taken all the basic work that we had at that time. It was a very unpleasant experience. '

'The lack of security is Rio is one of the points of greatest concern to the teams, and in this case were three members of the Spanish team who have suffered the violence that lives in Rio de Janeiro within three months of the start of the Olympic', said the Spanish sailing federation RFEV at the time.

In the same week, two members of the Danish sailing team reported on social media being caught in the vicinity of a gunfight between two local street gangs.

Nacra 17 crew, Anette Viborg reported that they had to seek shelter for violent shootings that occurred near the port of Niteroi, Rio.

At first they thought it was fireworks. Nearby workers at the port escaped into sheds.

'Soon they wave strongly of the Danish sailors that they should seek shelter for stray bullets. Rindom says she can see the fear in their eyes as the noise of machine guns (or whatever it was, many shots sounded) echoes between the walls, and all are extremely uncomfortable with the situation.'

Laser Radial sailor, Anne Marie Rindom, who was also present at the shoot-out reported:

'As everyone probably heard there was shooting near the port in Rio yesterday. We are all ok and nothing happened to us. A Brazilian sailor says it is gangs who shoot at each other and they have no reason to come down to the harbor.

At this stage, Australian Sailing is providing support to both Tesch and Ross to ensure their wellbeing.

“The safety of our team members is paramount,” said Matt Carroll, CEO of Australian Sailing. “We will continue to work with the Australian Paralympic Committee and Australian Federal Police to ensure our team has an appropriate level of security to ensure their safety in the lead-up to, and during, both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the meantime we will continue to ensure our team currently in Rio has the support they need.”

Kate McLoughlin, Chef de Mission of the 2016 Australian Paralympic Team, said the Australian Paralympic Sailing Team was understandably shaken by the incident.

Officials from the Australian Embassy in Brasilia have since been to the Australian team’s hotel to offer assistance, and have liaised with local authorities.

“Our first priority has been to work with Australian Sailing and DFAT to ensure everyone on our Paralympic Sailing Team receives any support they may need,” McLoughlin said.

“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.”

McLoughlin said the advice from the AFP, which has been communicated by the APC to all of its sports aiming to compete at the Games, is to always exercise a high degree of caution while travelling in Rio.

“That advice is particularly important before the Paralympic Games period,” McLoughlin said.

“We know there will be a hugely elevated level of security in place during the Paralympic Games, but for athletes and teams travelling there before the Games, there is a heightened need to be security conscious.”