Olympian Racks Up $5K Bill Playing Pokemon in Brazil

Some athletes complained about game's absence
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 4, 2016 4:17 AM CDT
Brazil Gets Pokemon Go Just in Time for Olympics
Brazilian garbage collector and dancer Renato Sorriso carries the Olympic torch on its way for the opening ceremony of Rio's 2016 Summer Olympics.   (Felipe Dana)

Olympians can now go for their Pokemon Go medals. The hit augmented-reality game, in which players roam around the real-life world to collect virtual monsters and medals, became available in Brazil late Wednesday. There had been much disappointment among those at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic games that they couldn't play the Pokemon Go game, the AP reports. But now, just ahead of Friday's opening ceremony, the Pokemon creatures are popping up everywhere.

The Japan Times reports that gymnastics gold medal favorite Kohei Uchimura accidentally racked up $5,000 in roaming charges playing the game during pre-Olympic training in Brazil. "He looked dead at the team meal that day," says a teammate of Uchimura on the day of discovery. Luck was on his side, however: The phone company adjusted the bill downward using the daily flat rate for overseas data usage (which Uchimura didn't have): roughly $30. (Team USA has made its most decorated athlete its flag-bearer.)

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