A Sri Lankan wrestler is missing from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after he was among three reported to have disappeared.
Two members of the judo team who went missing on Monday have since been spoken to by police but their teammate has not been traced.
The country’s Olympic committee said Yoda Pedige Shanith Chathuranga left the athlete’s village on Thursday. Police confirmed they are looking for a man in his 20s. The other two, judoka Marappulige Chamila Dilani and judo official Tikiri Hannadige Duminda Asela De Silva, were located by police after also leaving the village without warning.
A team spokesperson said all three have valid visas for their visit for six months and “therefore it’s difficult to arrive at any concrete conclusion” about their reasons for going missing.
They told the Reuters news agency their athletes have now handed over passports and other valuables to their respective sports discipline officials for safe keeping.
It is not the first time a major global sporting event has seen athletes going missing.
Several African athletes vanished from the Games in Australia in 2018 while 26 also vanished during the Manchester Games back in 2002.
During the London 2012 Olympics, 21 athletes and coaches vanished while in 2011 an entire football team from Senegal disappeared from their hotel in France.
