Two Romanian marathon runners have been robbed in Rio while attending a sports event in the Olympic village.

Romanian athletes Paula Claudia Todoran and Elena Daniela Cirlan were in the Olympic beach volley area when they noticed that one of their backpacks was missing, according to a statement from the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee.

The incident occurred on Monday, August 16, at around 14:00. The two athletes didn’t notice when the backpack was stolen and have not interacted in any way with the thief /thieves. They immediately contacted a Rio 2016 volunteer, who accompanied them to the nearest police station. There, the two Romanians filed a report.

None of the athletes was hurt, both of them being safe in the Olympic village.

Paula Todoran and Elena Cirlan competed in women’s marathon. While Todoran finished the competition 101st with a time of 2:48:45, Cirlan abandoned the race.

With just four medals, Romania is currently ranked 43rd in the overall medal ranking at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Romania’s team won the final of the women’s epee competition and the first gold medal for Romania at the Rio Olympics on Thursday, August 11. Then, Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau won silver in the men’s doubles tennis competition, Gabriel Sincraian got the bronze in the men’s 85kg weightlifting competition, and Romania’s rowing 8+1 women's team also won the bronze.

The US comes first in the ranking with 93 medals, followed by Great Britain with 50 medals, and China with 54 medals.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com