Australian Olympic athletes and support staff are being told that if they are not directly involved in acts of "violent, random and sporadic" crime during the Rio Olympics they should expect to witness it. The bearer of the sobering assessment, former army officer Greg Nance, who is running security for the 780-strong national team, has been monitoring the local environment in earnest for the past 18 months. 
The Australian Olympic Committee has decided in the last fortnight that Nance will conduct one-on-one briefings with every athlete and support team member - so nearly 800 individuals all up - as each arrives in Rio before the   August 5 opening ceremony.
"It's a major logistical undertaking," Nance said.
Fairfax Media reported this week the AOC has hired private security to be on standby for the team in addition to what the host city is offering. Nance expanded on Friday that two firms have been engaged: "They are reputable international firms, I'm not going to name them," he said.
To date, one Australian athlete - paralympian Liesl Tesch - and a team physiotherapist have been robbed at gunpoint in Rio. About six weeks ago, an Australian team technology expert dining in an Ipanema restaurant witnessed a close-range shooting of a fellow patron. "The fact that occurred in an area [Ipanema] that we had been using and intended to use [come Games time] really focused everyone's attention," Nance said. "That experience really highlighted for me that it was just a matter of time. We've had a really good run and because we've got a large team - we are the fourth largest team in the Games ... it is going to happen."
Australia's team boss Kitty Chiller has formally pushed for a significant lift in armed presence in Rio as soon as possible. Her request, however, has apparently fallen on deaf ears as she has had no response from Rio's mayor Eduardo Paes or the Games organising committee head Carlos Arthur Nuzman.