Australia’s Olympians have been advised not to wear their uniforms outside the athletes’ village as police continue to investigate the claim an Australian tourist was gang raped in Paris.
Australian Olympic team chef de mission Anna Meares confirmed overnight that she had been briefed on the incident but said information was limited.
“It sounds horrific,” she told reporters.
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”Obviously, my heart goes – our hearts go out to the woman involved, and we hope that she’s being cared for and supported in the trauma that she’s experienced.”
The two-time Olympic cycling gold medalist said no athletes had expressed concerns about being unsafe.
They were told the security presence around them would be high to allow officers to respond as quickly as possible.
“We encourage them, if they go out of the village, not to go out on their own, not to wear team uniform, just to wear plain clothes,” she said.
“And we’re just waiting on further information on the actual case itself.”
According to French media, the 25-year-old woman sought refuge in a kebab shop on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement about 5am on Saturday.
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Workers there called police when they saw the intoxicated state she was in and she reportedly told police she had been sexually assaulted by five men but could not give more details.
In a statement, the Paris prosecutors’ office said it was investigating a “gang rape likely to have been committed on the night of July 19 to 20”.
“A woman born in August 1998 in Australia reported the facts in taking refuge in a restaurant in the 18th arrondissement, where she was taken care of by the firefighters,” the statement read.
No arrests have been made.
In an unrelated incident, two staff members working for the broadcasting team from Channel 9, the owner of this website, were attacked by a group of people late on Monday afternoon (early Tuesday AEST).
The apparent attempted robbery, which included trying to steal a backpack, was understood to be physical but without weapons, and the tech team workers escaped safely.
A report has been made to police and Nine staffers have been warned to stay vigilant.
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