Bernadette Schild Austria bersaing semasa larian pertama Piala DUNIA Slalom wanita alpine di Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Ahad Februari 2, 2014. (Bernadette Schild of Austria competes during the first run of a alpine women's World Cup Slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014. (Photo AP - thinkINpictures @1WORLD Community)
SitiWanMahani – VIENNA (AP) Jawatankuasa Olimpik Austria telah menerima surat tanpa nama yang mengandungi ancaman penculikan terhadap pemain ski Alpine Bernadette Schild dan rangka pilot Janine Flock semasa Sukan Sochi.
Surat itu, yang ditulis dalam bahasa Jerman, telah diumumkan Isnin hingga peti mel pejabat Vienna itu, Setiausaha Agung AOC Peter Mennel Selasa. “Kami telah dimaklumkan segera Agensi Jenayah Persekutuan, yang sedang menyiasat kes itu,” kata Mennel.
Jurucakap Kementerian Dalam Negeri Karl- Heinz Grundboeck disahkan siasatan yang sedang berjalan, sambil menambah bahawa pihak berkuasa Rusia telah dimaklumkan dan tiada maklumat akan didedahkan kepada umum jika atau apabila langkah-langkah keselamatan tambahan telah ditubuhkan untuk Schild dan Flock.
AOC berkata dalam satu kenyataan bahawa ia “tidak menganggapnya sebagai ancaman yang teruk pada masa ini.” Mennel berbincang dengan Flock pada Selasa semasa penerbangan dari Vienna ke Sochi. “Saya tidak bimbang, saya tidak berfikir terlalu banyak tentang isu ini,” kata Flock selepas tiba di resort Rusia. “Saya di sini untuk menumpukan perhatian kepada sukan saya”.
Mennel kata Flock “amanah dalam langkah-langkah keselamatan kami,” sambil menam-bah bahawa atlet Austria akan diiringi oleh ahli-ahli satu pasukan petugas khas polis apabila mereka meninggalkan Kampung Olimpik. “Kami mempunyai 2 orang keselamatan di sini dan jika ancaman itu disahkan sebagai sebenar kami akan memberikan kesela-matan tambahan kepada atlet”.
Ancaman penculikan pertama kali dilaporkan oleh akhbar harian Austria Kronen Zeitung, yang pada mulanya berkata Marlies Schild adalah salah satu daripada atlet berkenaan. AOC mengesahkan penerimaan surat tetapi hanya lewat hari ini, Mennel dijelaskan dalam satu temu bual dengan Press Agency Austria ancaman itu tidak diarahkan ke arah Marlies Schild tetapi pada adiknya, Bernadette.
Kedua-dua adik-beradik Schild hanya akan bersaing dalam 21 Februari Slalom wanita dan mereka tidak akan pergi ke Sochi sebelum minggu depan. Bernadette Schild adalah kali pertama Olympian yang memperoleh tiga kemenangan podium di slaloms Piala DUNIA, baru-baru ini pada Ahad lepas di Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, di mana dia datang yang ke-3 di belakang kakaknya dan pemenang Frida Hansdotter Sweden.
Marlies Schild, yang memenangi pingat perak dalam slalom di Vancouver 4 tahun lalu, bersedia untuk bersaing dalam Sukan Olimpik keempat beliau. Beliau juga memenangi perak dalam acara gabungan dan gangsa dalam slalom di 2006 Permainan Turin. Flock, yang juga bersedia untuk membuat penampilan pertama Olimpik, memenangi gelaran rangka Eropah bulan lepas di acara Piala DUNIA di Koenigssee, Jerman.
Ancaman penculikan datang kurang dari 2 minggu selepas satu siri jawatankuasa Olimpik Eropah, termasuk Austria, menerima e-mel yang mengandungi ancaman pengganas terhadap atlet di Sochi. Mesej kemudiannya dianggap satu penipuan oleh pakar-pakar keselamatan, yang berkata ancaman itu adalah biasa mendahului acara-acara besar. Penganjur Sochi menggambarkan mereka sebagai “tidak benar”.
Bernadette Schild Austria meraikan di kawasan penamat selepas tempat yang ke-3 pada alpine ski Slalom wanita dalam Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Ahad Februari 2, 2014. (Bernadette Schild of Austria celebrates in the finish area after placing third at an alpine skiing women's Slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014. (Photo AP - thinkINpictures @1WORLD Community)
Austrians get Kidnap threats Against Schild, Flock
VIENNA (AP) The Austrian Olympic Committee has received an anonymous letter containing a kidnap threat against Alpine skier Bernadette Schild and skeleton pilot Janine Flock during the Sochi Games.
The letter, written in German, was delivered Monday to the mailbox of its Vienna office, AOC general secretary Peter Mennel said Tuesday. "We have immediately alerted the Federal Criminal Agency, which is investigating the case," Mennel said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck confirmed the ongoing investigation, adding that Russian authorities had been informed and that no information would be made public if or when additional security measures were established for Schild and Flock.
The AOC said in a statement that it was "not regarding it as an acute threat at the moment." Mennel discussed the matter with Flock on Tuesday during a flight from Vienna to Sochi. "I am not worried, I don't think too much about the issue," Flock said after arriving in the Russian resort. "I am here to concentrate on my sport."
Mennel said Flock "trusts in our security measures," adding that Austrian athletes will be accompanied by members of a police special taskforce when they leave the Olympic Village. "We have two security people here and if the threat is confirmed as actual we will give additional security to the athletes."
The kidnap threat was first reported by the Austrian daily newspaper Kronen Zeitung, which initially said Marlies Schild was one of the athletes concerned. The AOC confirmed the receipt of the letter but only later Tuesday, Mennel clarified in an interview with the Austria Press Agency the threat was not directed toward Marlies Schild but at her younger sister, Bernadette.
Both Schild sisters will only compete in the Feb. 21 women's slalom and they won't travel to Sochi before next week. Bernadette Schild is a first-time Olympian who earned three podiums in World Cup slaloms, most recently last Sunday in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, where she came third behind her sister and winner Frida Hansdotter of Sweden.
Marlies Schild, who won silver in slalom in Vancouver four years ago, is set to compete in her fourth Olympics. She also won silver in the combined event and bronze in slalom at the 2006 Turin Games. Flock, who is also set to make her first Olympic appearance, won the European skeleton title last month at a World Cup event in Koenigssee, Germany.
The kidnap threat comes less than two weeks after a string of European Olympic committees, including Austria's, received emails containing terrorist threats against its athletes in Sochi. Those messages were later deemed a hoax by security experts, who said such threats were common ahead of big events. Sochi organizers described them as "not real."
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