A sitting volleyball player who was due to compete on the opening day of the Paralympics has vanished in Paris.
Police are investigating the “worrying disappearance” of a female team member from Rwanda’s delegation after she vanished near the team’s base at Courbevoie, a northern suburb of the French capital last week.
The para-athlete reportedly disappeared on August 20 while she was at a restaurant with others but the president of the Rwandan Olympic Committee did not visit the local police station to report her disappearance until Tuesday this week.
A formal inquest has been opened by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office into the player’s disappearance.
The unnamed player was due to compete in her nation’s opening sitting volleyball match against Brazil on Thursday morning. The official team list for the match on the Paris 2024 website showed Rwanda had 16 players, two less than Brazil’s 18-strong squad.
She was also allegedly due to take part in the opening ceremony, but a statement on Wednesday morning hours before the event at Place de la Concorde confirmed “the referral to the BRDP (the Brigade for the Suppression of Crimes against Persons) as part of an investigation into a worrying disappearance.” The Rwandan ambassador has visited the location of the athlete’s disappearance.
Rwanda booked their tickets to the Paris 2024 Paralympics by winning their third straight ParaVolley Africa championship in January. The team finished bottom of their group at the Tokyo Paralympics but have high hopes in the French capital after climbing up the world rankings.
Liliane Mukobwankawe, the captain of Rwanda’s female sitting volleyball team who is competing at her third Games, was a flag bearer for her country during the Paralympics opening ceremony on Wednesday night.
It is not the first time athletes at a Games have gone missing. Last month, Cuban judoka Dayle Ojeda travelled to Paris to assist with preparations but fled to Spain where she hopes to attain political asylum and one day represent them in competition.
At the London 2012 Olympics five boxers, a swimmer and a footballer from Cameroon’s team disappeared from the athlete village amid reports they tried to claim asylum.
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