Olympics athletes warned not to wear team colours in Paris after horror gang rape of tourist amid crime & terror fears
OLYMPIC athletes in Paris have been warned against wearing their team colours when going out in the city ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony.
A number of serious safety breaches and threats have plagued the French capital in the last few weeks from political riots on the streets to allegations of gang rape and ISIS terror warnings.
The warning over outfits came from the Australian Olympic team after an Australian tourist alleges she was gang raped by five men earlier this week.
A harrowing video released on Tuesday shows the distressed woman begging for help in Paris moments after she claims she was attacked.
Anna Meares, the Aussie team chief, said they were aware of the serious allegations and have urged all their athletes to take extra care when walking around Paris.
Athletes were advised to stay together when leaving the specially designed Olympic village and to try to wear plain clothes whenever possible.
Meares said at a press conference: “There’s not a lot of detail and information that has come through, and what information we’re passing on to our athletes, is that the security presence is really, really high.
“We don’t yet have any feedback from our athletes that they have felt unsafe.
“We are encouraging 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.”
It comes as France is beefing up security ahead of the Olympics which start on Friday.
Paris 2024 is set to become the most guarded Games ever with over 60,000 cops and soldiers, drones, helicopters and a huge increase in AI surveillance all deployed after months of growing safety concerns.
The robust defence system will be headed up by over 45,000 police officers and a huge force of up to 18,000 soldiers.
Organisers are preparing for all possibilities during the event with terrorist attacks and protests all looming over the Games.
Paris has been rocked following the recent election chaos that saw tens of thousands of riot cops battling with opposing political supporters.
Political candidates and activists were attacked in the streets with cars and buildings set alight after the country’s most divisive vote ever.
Terrorist outfit ISIS has already threatened chilling attacks on the Olympics.
The death cult posted a propaganda poster showing one of its terrorists seemingly flying an “armed drone” to attack the iconic Eiffel Tower.
They have made similar sinister threats in the past at major sporting events such as the Champions League final earlier this year.
An elite anti-terrorist unit has also been deployed in France to protect the Israeli football team and fans as they kick-off their tournament this week.
The French Research and Intervention Brigade have been tasked with creating a “ring of steel” at their opening match against Mali amid protests relating to the war in Gaza.
To combat these issues France has launched the largest deployment of troops since World War Two.
The 60,000 soldiers and cops are set to be used throughout the event to keep the 15 million visitors and 10,500 Olympic Games competitors safe.
Officers have already made a number of arrests ahead of the Games with a 26-year-old being held for allegedly plotting “violent action”.
Weeks ago, a 16-year-old was also detained for allegedly saying he wanted to “die a martyr”.
A Russian man has been arrested on Sunday on suspicion of planning attacks during the Olympics.
A 40-year-old was detained with police probing whether he passed on “intelligence to a foreign power in order arouse hostilities in France”, French media reported.
Alongside the huge security teams a number of aerial units will also be in operation.
Rafale fighter jets, AWACS surveillance flights, Reaper surveillance drones and helicopters with high-level snipers on board will patrol the Paris skies throughout the event.
Security expert Will Geddes told The Sun that Paris is “throwing everything from physical, to technical, to psychological operations” to ensure they protect the event.
