RIO DE JANEIRO – Gymnastics superstar Kohei Uchimura of Japan made a costly error to begin his Olympics campaign – as his addiction to Pokemon Go threatened to land him with a $4,954 phone bill.
Uchimura, a strong favorite to win the men’s all-round competition for the second consecutive time, became hooked on the mobile game after being persuaded to try it by colleagues on the Japanese Olympic team.
After landing in Sao Paulo for a pre-Games training camp last week, Uchimura downloaded the game and played it during his spare time – unaware that he was racking up an enormous sum in roaming charges.