Rio judo bronze medallist arrested after ‘losing fight with receptionist’

A Belgian judoka who won a bronze medal in the Olympic Games has reportedly been arrested after losing a fight with a hotel receptionist.

 
Dirk van Tichelt, 32, broke into the Best Western Hotel in Rio because he believed that a woman who had stolen his phone was hiding there. Van Tichelt’s phone was taken while he was celebrating his medal on Copacabana Beach after his win.

According to a staff member at the hotel, who wished to remain anonymous, a fight broke out between the judoka and the receptionist trying to escort him from the hotel.
‘He thought that the woman was staying in the hotel and demanded the receptionist should give him her room number so she could return the phone,’ the worked told MailOnline.
‘This was all totally untrue. Unfortunately, the Belgian athlete smelled of alcohol and looked very drunk.

Van Tichelt won a bronze at the games (Picture: Getty Images)

‘My colleague tried to get the man out of the hotel and this turned into a fight. They exchanged quite a few punches. As it happens the receptionist also practises jiu-jitsu so they were equally matched.’
Van Tichelt had a black eye when he went to a press conference after the incident.

Police later said that ‘the athlete attempted to throw a punch at the employee and the employee retaliated.’
The Belgian Olympic communications director said, simply that Van Tichelt had been hit in the face by ‘another person’.

Source: Metro.co.uk