The former cyclist and Olympic champion Juan Curuchet suffered a violent robbery in his house: they took all his savings and his medals

Former Argentine cyclist Juan Curuchet, Olympic champion at the 2008 Beijing Games, was assaulted in his home on the outskirts of the city of Mar del Plata by armed and hooded criminals. The robbery occurred while Curuchet was with his partner in the room of their home, located in a rural area near Chapadmalal Station, south of the seaside resort. According to the athlete, three criminals acted hooded and wearing gloves, and tied them both with cords and threw them to the ground, while robbing the house. Curuchet told the Telam news agency that the robbery occurred last Sunday minutes before the second debate between the presidential candidates, while he was watching television with his girlfriend in his room. I live in the countryside, where everything is very quiet. I came out of bathing and you can see that I left a door without a key. And suddenly three hooded guys appeared, screaming, very out, with a revolver and two pistols, who pushed us out of bed,” he said. The athlete said that it was “a horrible moment” and that the criminals took his partner’s car, a Volkswagen Gol Trend model 2007, in which they loaded all the stolen belongings. They took all my savings, everything I had, rings, my medals and Olympic and sports awards, cell phones, a weapon that I have declared and that I did not get to grab, and the keys of my other car, which as it is automatic they did not know how to handle it and left it, “he said. According to Curuchet before the Departmental Directorate of Investigation, the criminals were “a man over 50 years old and two younger kids,” and one of them told him “I know you from television.” In addition, he explained that before leaving the house, after 40 minutes in which they “scrambled everything” and “shook the weapons”, they tied the feet of him and his partner and locked them in the bathroom. The athlete said that the criminals were “wet and with muddy feet, so they came walking,” and that the stolen car appeared hours later on fire, in the Las Heras neighborhood, in the extreme southwest of Mar del Plata.The fact is investigated by prosecutor Mariano Moyano, head of the Functional Unit of Instruction specialized in qualified robberies. Juan Curuchet is considered one of the best cyclists in history. He participated in six Olympic Games (Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008). In China he won the gold medal with his partner Walter Pérez in the Madison event and was also world champion on the track in 2004. In 2008 he won the Olimpia de Oro award for his performance.

Original source in Spanish