Team GB Paralympians Neil and Lora Fachie have been mugged in Brazil after competing at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships.
The couple won silver medals in the mixed tandem team sprint alongside Corrine Hall and Matthew Rotherham on Wednesday, but had their medals stolen after leaving the arena in Rio De Janeiro along with their phones, passports, cash and cards.
Taking to social media, Neil wrote: "We were mugged tonight in Rio, so sadly I'm not contactable by phone for a little while. We're all okay, other than being shaken up. Passports, cards, some cash and our silver medals were all stolen. A sad way to end the day."
The couple have both won two Paralympic gold medals and were awarded OBEs in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours. They are part of a 29-person GB team in Brazil and their one-year-old son Fraser travelled with them.
Speaking ahead of the World Championships, Neil told the Herald : "Lora and I riding together will be a first - I don't know if it'll be good fun or if it'll be terrible, we'll have to see. It'll be a great new challenge, though.
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"It'll be great to have Fraser there too – Lora's parents are here to help us out because obviously, there'll be times when we're both on the track. He's got zero concept of what’s going on and he just wants to run around the velodrome.
"But hopefully, when he looks back in a few years, he'll be pleased that he was there, especially if we do well." Both Neil and Lora are set to compete at their fourth Paralympics in Paris this year and have no plans to retire from the sport anytime soon.
"The motivation is still there but I'll be honest, it's very different now," Neil added. "At the start of my career, I was trying to prove myself whereas now, what do I need to prove?
"One thing I've not done yet, though, is successfully defend a Paralympic title so I'd love to do that. And I've not been to a Paralympics with a child either and it's a cliché but Fraser's my motivation.
"The longer you do sport at thus level, the harder it is to motivate yourself but I am still enjoying it. This week, my priority is the 1km time trial – if I want to be in Paris, I need to perform well in that."
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