Zimbabwe denies report Olympics athletes arrested for winning no medal

The Zimbabwe government on Friday denied that President Mugabe had ordered the arrest of the country's Olympics team for failing to win medals during the Rio Olympics.



Principal director of the Ministry of Sport and Recreation Benson Dube told Xinhua that the story was false and probably the work of social media.



The story that appeared on a Nigeria news website said Mugabe was not happy that the 31-member team had failed to win any medals and had instructed police commissioner general Augustine Chihuri to arrest the athletes on their arrival home.



"President Robert Mugabe has reportedly ordered the arrest of the entire Zimbabwean Olympic team for failing to win a medal at the just concluded 2016 Rio Olympics," the site said without giving the source of the information.



The site also alleged that Mugabe had ordered the athletes to repay government money used to finance their trip.



The Zimbabwean team competed in seven events of the 2016 Olympic Games -- archery, athletics, equestrian, football, rowing, shooting and swimming, and the locally based athletes are now back home.



Apart from the women's hockey team which won gold in the 1980 Olympics, Kirsty Coventry, hailed as the nation's greatest athlete, won gold, silver and bronze medals in the 2004 Olympic games in Greece and a gold and three silver medals in the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.

