Australian Gold medalist says bystanders watched armed robbery in Rio

by Sail-World.com on 20 Jun 2016 Liesl Tesch, a six time Olympian, along with coach Sarah Ross, was robbed at gunpoint on Sunday morning local time, in Rio de Janeiro in the third incident in a month involving sailors and firearms.

Tesch and Ross were returning from a bike ride. Liesl Tesch takes up the story, writing on her Facebook page:

Some things don't happen too often in a lifetime...

Like being held up by gunpoint at the end of your morning cycle along the waterfront!

Sarah and I had a great ride. The main highway out the front of Flamengo Beach is closed every Sunday, and this morning it was set up for a running event, with strips of safety tape creating lanes that we couldn't cross. We cycled to the end of the course, and turned back on the bike path on the waterfront, along Guanabara Bay under cloud covered Sugarloaf mountain.

We rode up to the end of the promenade to check out the absolute lack of construction on the Olympic Sailing viewing platform and then headed home. Instead of going over the overpass (because my bike had no gears) we cycled under thousands of people jogging along the road in their blue shirts, and headed home on one of our normal routes.

As we passed the back of the bus stop over the road from our house, two people jumped out from behind/beside the bus stop in front of me. Sarah's bike (without brakes) crashed into mine just as the guy in front of me pointed a gun at me.

Oopsy! He mumbled something in Portuguese, lifting the gun upwards. Thinking he was asking for money, I lifted up my shirt to show I had nothing. He then gave me a shove in the shoulder with my free hand, and I toppled glamorously onto the cobblestones with my bike between my legs. Sarah was yelling at the guy who was stealing her bike as the guy with the gun grabbed my bike.

There were three people within 10 metres of us at the incident, who watched, and then just continued on their morning strolls.

Leaving me in the ground and Sarah gobsmacked, the 'baddies' rode off into the park.

I picked myself up and we staggered across the road towards home hand in hand, only to turn around as four other members of the Aussie Sailing team were returning from their morning walk passing the same bus stop, less than 5 minutes behind us, oblivious.

Everyone stay safe in Rio!