BEIJING - Canada has no plans to require athletes to don their team uniforms while out and about in Beijing, despite an edict handed down by the Australian contingent that a more visible connection to the Olympics might prevent violent acts.
An attack on a U.S. couple at a tourist site over the weekend led some countries to rethink their security policies, but Canadian Olympic Committee officials say they don't see a need for any additional safety measures when in public.
"We haven't received any recommendations from the RCMP, we have daily discussions with the liaison officers that are here," said spokeswoman Sylvie Bigras said Monday.
"They say the environment is still secure."
Australian athletes were told Sunday to trade in their civilian clothes in favour of team uniforms while touring Beijing in the hopes that "branding" themselves will make them less likely to be a target for violence.
The move came after Todd and Barbara Bachman, parents of 2004 U.S. volleyball Olympian Elisabeth (Wiz) Bachman and in-laws of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, were attacked by a Chinese man while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower on Saturday.
Todd Bachman died from knife wounds and Barbara Bachman was critically injured. She remains in hospital and was upgraded from critical to stable condition Monday.
Their assailant, Tang Yongming, 47, threw himself off a high balcony of the Drum Tower, just eight kilometres from the main Olympic site. He was described in a report by the Xinhua news agency as troubled and depressed.
Concerns of targeted violence were dismissed by the Beijing organizers, who called the attack an isolated incident during a news conference.
"Beijing is a safe city but unfortunately we are not immune to violent acts," said organizing committee member Wang Wei, emphasizing that there was no reason to believe the attack was targeted at Americans.
"We are going to strengthen the security at scenic spots. . . to make sure no sharp weapons can be brought into the area."
The RCMP, charged with security for athletes and Canadian officials, says it considers Beijing safe and "has full confidence in the capacity of the local police authorities to protect Canadian athletes and its delegation."
Still, Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates urged athletes and supporters to be extra cautious outside Olympic areas by "branding" themselves.
"We certainly will be impressing on our athletes through their (sports) section managers that when their competition finishes and they go downtown ... it would be wise to be branded," Coates said.
"We really should be insisting they should wear their team gear, I think that might be a small precaution. I think there is more likelihood of people keeping an eye out for you -- security and volunteers -- if you are in (Olympic) gear."
Bigras says Canada only has a uniform policy that extends to official venues and sites. Otherwise, athletes are free to wear whatever they want.
"We ask our athletes, when they are in official venues or Canada Olympic House to wear their HBC clothing and that is the only clothing edict we have," Bigras said.
"As far as just touristic visits, I know some of them are wearing what we call civilian clothing and we certainly don't have a problem with that."
