GOLD COAST, Australia (CP) -- Canadian Olympic high jumper Mark Boswell lost $7,000 US ($10,300 Cdn) on Monday when he left his wallet at Brisbane Airport after arriving in Australia.
Boswell, 22, believes he left his wallet in a luggage cart at the airport but he didn't realize it was missing until he was more than half way to the Gold Coast, where the Canadian track and field team is training.
Police said the wallet was found about two hours later a few suburbs away from Brisbane airport, minus the cash.
"I had it in my trolley and I guess I must have left it," said Boswell, a native of Brampton, Ont. "It's got all my stuff in it, passport, money, credit cards, everything."
Boswell, who won silver last year in the world championships, is a medal threat in Sydney.
Boswell flew into Australia early Monday morning from Berlin where he won the high jump at the Golden League international athletics meeting.
The money was earnings from a recent track meet in Greece.
Although suffering from jet lag, Boswell drove back to the airport to try to find the wallet, without success.
"It's a downer but you know I've just got to start refocusing and get ready for the Games," he said.
Another early Sydney Olympics crime victim was British hurdler Colin Jackson. His kitbag, containing more than $4,500 US worth of belongings and the phone numbers for various film and pop stars, was stolen from a truck outside a Gold Coast high school gym on the weekend.
The theft prompted the British Olympic Association to remind athletes to be careful about security.
Boswell isn't the only Canadian track athlete to recently lose a wallet.
In July, banned sprinter Ben Johnson was robbed by a group of street children who distracted him as he walked down Rome's elegant Via Veneto.
The former 100-metre world record holder chased the thieves, who managed to snatch his wallet by distracting him. He caught one of them, but a few of the children got away with his wallet, which reportedly contained 10 million lire ($7,278 Cdn).
