A member of Australia’s cycling team revealed Wednesday some of his personal belongings had been stolen after an apparent break-in to his van ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In an Instagram video geotagged from Brussels, Belgium, Olympic gold medalist and BMX star Logan Martin shared he “lost my wallet, backpack and a few other things” in the ordeal.
“Our van got broken into last night. Luckily my bikes weren’t in there, although my bike bags were in there with some things in it. Crazy start to the trip,” said Martin, who panned the camera to a van with smashed windows.
A separate slide of Martin’s post featured police appearing to investigate the vehicle.
Fortunately for Martin, 30, and the group, they were able to locate some of their belongings in a park, courtesy of bag tags.
“Thank God for bag tags, we found our bags,” Martin said as the Instagram video focused on a bike helmet and gear sprinkled throughout the park.
Martin, who won gold in men’s BMX freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, provided further insight on the matter in his Instagram caption.
“Our van got broken into overnight. Luckily most of our stuff was in our room and we managed to recover a lot of it too. I lost my wallet, backpack and a few other things but overall it didn’t end up being too bad. It’s unfortunate when people feel the need to do things like this,” he posted to 510,000 followers.
Anna Meares, a retired track cyclist who serves as the chef de mission of Australia’s Olympic team, confirmed Martin’s bikes “are OK.”
“As you can appreciate, having sporting equipment, you potentially lose it this close to a competition can be quite stressful, (but) his bikes are fine,” she said, according to News.com.au.
Martin has since made it to the Olympic Village, telling 7NEWS he was “stoked” to be there amid the calamity.
“I was more shocked than anything, I wasn’t really stressed because I knew I had my bikes with me — that’s the main thing,” Martin said.
Social media users are rallying behind Martin and the team in the wake of the incident.
“Terrible news for the Australian BMX team, especially so close to the Olympics. Glad the bikes are safe, but it’s still a tough blow. Stay strong, Logan,” one user wrote on X.
Another added, “How unfortunate for them ! Hopefully they found out who did it and put it behind jailed.”
The cycling BMX freestyle event begins July 30 at the Paris Games.
The Olympics run through Aug. 11.
