Olympic champion Rice could skip Commonwealth Games

March 01, 2010 05:19 pm | Updated 05:19 pm IST - Melbourne

Australia's Stephanie Rice displays her gold medal after the women's 200-meter individual medley final at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Rice may pull put of the commonwealth games citing security risks. File photo

Australia's Stephanie Rice displays her gold medal after the women's 200-meter individual medley final at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Rice may pull put of the commonwealth games citing security risks. File photo

Olympic champion and world record holder swimmer Stephanie Rice is ready to skip the Delhi Commonwealth Games if security risks are too high in India.

The 21-year-old swimmer, who clinched three golds in 2008 Beijing Olympics and holds world record in women’s 400m individual medley, said she was waiting for instruction from the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and the national swimming federation before taking a final call on her participation in the October 3-14 event in Delhi.

“It’s something that I have to give serious consideration to,” Ms. Rice told ‘Herald Sun’

“And if there is any serious or credible risk, then that will prompt a rethink. I just want to see what transpires in coming months,” said Rice, the 200 and 400 metres individual medley titles holder in CWG.

“I have the utmost confidence in Swimming Australia and Games officials to make the best decisions on the welfare and safety of athletes,” she added.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith today left for a three-day visit to India, during which he would discuss security plan for the quadrennial event.

“At any major sporting event... There is a threat of terrorist or other attack and we have to be absolutely vigilant,” he said yesterday.

“The conclusion we’ve come to...is we don’t regard that threat as a credible threat. It’s a matter for individual athletes or sporting bodies to decide whether they take part or not,” he added.

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