Everybody knew the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio would clash with Pokemon Go as soon as the popular game released in the host country.
Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura is the first athlete to do the honors.
According to Kyodo News, Uchimura currently sits on a 500,000 yen bill, which roughly translates to $5,000. Why? His roaming data charges him for playing the game.
This story has a happy ending of sorts, though, because the medalist hopeful had a chat with his service provider about the situation:
When Uchimura checked his bill, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“500,000 yen…” sighed the defending six-time world champion.
Added teammate Kenzo Shirai, “He looked dead at the team meal that day.”
Uchimura, though, was ultimately spared of the huge bill after contacting his phone company to explain the situation. In the end, he got away with the daily flat rate of 3,000 yen.
Good for Uchimura. The five-time Olympic medalist is, believe it or not, human like the rest of us and went ahead and got addicted to the most popular mobile game of all time. With his new arrangement, he can still pursue medals in Rio while doubling down his efforts to catch ’em all.
Just understand Uchimura is far from the last athlete to produce a story like this. Look at it this way—the Olympics haven’t even started yet and run through August 21. Uchimura’s tale might prevent a few mishaps, but more are on the way. The Pokemon fever is real and quite global.