Chinese Athlete Robbed by Fake Drunk Man in Rio

Here’s how this particular racket worked: A guy pretending to be really drunk walked into a Rio de Janiero hotel where Chinese hurdler Shi Dongpeng and a photographer were checking in. The man vomited on Dongpeng, at which point the photographer chased the drunk out of the hotel while Dongpeng went to clean himself. But it was all a distraction, because the minute the photographer turned back around, all his equipment was gone.

This all is according to a story by the International Sports Press Association, which is now warning journalists visiting Rio about the possibility of this sort of thing.

Because, man oh man is it ever within the realm of possibility that you’ll get robbed in Rio. When Dongpeng and the cameraman went to the police station, they had to sit in a queue for two hours while police dealt with all the other people who had been robbed that night. Earlier this week a New Zealand athlete was kidnapped by fake police and forced to withdraw money from an ATM. An Australian athlete robbed at gunpoint near the sailing venue. Members of the Spanish sailing team were robbed earlier this year and a Brazilian athlete, shooter Anna Paula Cotta, was shot in the head during an attempted robbery in Rio last month.

The advice from various embassies and other authorities is for people visiting Rio to not wear expensive things or use a mobile phone in public. 

The Rio Games just keep getting better.