I have raised the need for the Swimming Team Leader to ensure he is aware of his athlete’s whereabouts when leaving the Olympic Village and that the swimming athletes observe the 2am curfew.
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Emma McKeon and Josh Palmer will miss the Rio 2016 Olympics closing ceremony for disciplinary reasons.
From left: Australia’s Emma McKeon, Brittany Elmslie, Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell take gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay in Rio.
He certainly won’t find a sympathetic ear at the Australian Olympic Committee, which previously announced a ban on athletes going to Copacabana Beach after nightfall due to the threat of petty crime, an apparently prescient curfew that Palmer, McKeon and a group of fellow athletes failed to abide.
Reportedly disoriented and without his wallet or phone, Palmer was discovered by businessmen who called the Australian Consulate.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, they must not leave the Olympic village between 8pm-8am.
Australian Rio Olympics swimmer Josh Palmer has been robbed in Copacabana and severely reprimanded by Australian team officials after a late night out that went horribly wrong.
Neither will be allowed to participate in the closing ceremony.
Palmer, however, headed to a beach kiosk to keep drinking.
A drunken Palmer, 25, was robbed of $1000 and his wallet and phone while McKeon, 22, stayed with friends in Copacabana until the next morning without telling team management.
The International Olympic Committee has ruled out a blanket ban on athletes leaving the Olympic village to see the sights and sounds of Rio, describing such a step as “a bit crazy”.
Palmer, who finished fifth in his 100-meter breaststroke heat on August 6, made a decision to continue drinking with a friend and his night took a turn for the worse.
He told officials that after his friend left and he was alone, he was approached by a man who forced him to withdraw A$1000 in cash from a nearby ATM.
Palmer met with Nance and a member of the Australian Federal Police.
“Swimming management has also decided athletes must advise the Team Leader of their arrival into the Olympic Village and they must present themselves to a Swimming official by 10am”.
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Both swimmers have apologised for their behaviour and Palmer has chosen not to make a formal complaint about the alleged robbery.
