Japanese Olympic gymnast Kohei Uchimura could really use some gold right now -- not necessarily a gold medal, but just some gold coins to pay off his steep phone bill.

And he supposedly has "Pokemon Go" to blame.

While in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Uchimura reportedly racked up a nearly $5,000 phone bill while playing the game, thanks to data overages.

Uchimura, a six-time world champion, reportedly downloaded the augmented reality game when he flew to Sao Paulo, Brazil, for training, and he instantly got hooked.

But the odd and possibly amazing part of this story is that Rio de Janeiro doesn't even have "Pokemon Go" right now.

Olympians have already griped that they're stuck in Rio with no PokeStops to visit or Pokemon to catch.

Despite pleas from Rio's mayor, Niantic Inc., the company that created "Pokemon Go," has yet to set a release date for the app in Brazil. So we're still not totally sure how Uchimura got on.

It wasn't all bad news for Uchimura, though. His phone company graciously agreed to reduce his bill to a $30-a-day unlimited plan. Whew.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Atlanta Dream forward Brionna Jones (24) cuts between Indiana Fever guard Shey Peddy (5) and forward Brianna Turner (11) in the first half of a WNBA basketball playoff game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Credit: AP

Featured

Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Credit: NYT