Japanese gymnast has a $5k phone bill from using Pokemon Go in Rio

Japan’s Kohei Uchimura is the reigning men’s all-around gymnastics gold medalist, and his love of Pokemon is costing him a fortune.
Japanese gymnast has a $5k phone bill from using Pokemon Go in Rio
Japanese gymnast has a $5k phone bill from using Pokemon Go in Rio /

Japan’s Kohei Uchimura is in Rio de Janeiro with the rest of the nation’s gymnastic team, but when he is not training to defend his 2012 gold medal in the all-around, he is training his Charmander to become a Charizard.

It seems the Olympian has taken quite an interest in the popular Pokemon Go game, which is an expensive habit. Uchimura received a $4,954 bill from his wireless carrier because of roaming data charges he had accrued while playing the game, according to ESPN.

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Luckily for the champion, his cell phone company is stepping up to support Uchimura, retroactively transferring him to a much more manageable $30-a-day unlimited roaming plan and saving him from the massive tab.

Uchimura and the Japanese men, who took silver as a team in London four years ago, will hit the gym for individual qualifying on Day 1 of the games, with team finals taking place on Day 3 and the individual all-around final being held on Day 5.


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Brendan Maloy
BRENDAN MALOY

Brendan Maloy covers odd minor league promotions, athletes' Instagram accounts and others sports adjacent ephemera.