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Aussie basketball star set to employ bodyguard at Rio Olympics

Xinhua, June 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Australian basketballer and NBA star Patrick 'Patty' Mills will increase his personal security to ensure his family's safety at the upcoming Rio Olympics, as threats of the crime-riddled host city continue to emerge.

Despite the heightened crime in the streets of Rio, Mills and fellow Australian basketballer, Joe Ingles, said nothing would stop them from competing at the Games in Rio.

Australia' s Olympic Boss Kitty Chiller briefed Australian athletes earlier this week after six-time Australian Paralympian Liesl Tesch and team official Sarah Boss were robbed at gunpoint near their Rio accommodation, in broad daylight, during a training camp last weekend.

At an NBA promotional event in Melbourne, Mills said he was planning on hiring additional security for his family and friends, after the robbery of Tesch.

"Obviously you can' t ignore that stuff. We have got some stuff together with our family to make sure they are looked after," he told NewsCorp on Thursday.

"It is an Olympics and you want to make sure you share that experience with your family and friends as much as you can.

"Definitely I am putting some focus into that to make sure they are looked after and healthy."

Asked if that security would include a bodyguard, Mills said: "Yeah, over in America we have got some people connected to make sure they are looked after."

Australian Boomer and Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles, who joined Mills at the event, said his pregnant wife, Australian Diamonds netballer Renee Ingles, would stay home in Australia and that nothing will stop him from going to Rio.

"I am going no matter what and I want to represent my country. It means everything to me, it would take a lot more than that to get me not to go," Ingles told NewsCorp on Thursday.

"Once we get there I will take precautions and be careful with everything I do and I probably won' t leave my room in the village apart from Games.

"But I am not going to miss out because of that."

The Australian Boomers head into Rio with their best chance of claiming their first Olympic medal. In both Beijing (2008) and London (2012), the Boomers finished 7th, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals. Endit