The tripod mix-up that nearly led to police action

A late tale has emerged from the Beijing Winter Olympics involving a tripod and an apparent mix-up that nearly triggered police action.

The Australian reports after a group press conference at the so-called “icy knoll” in Zhangjiakou, ABC’s Tracey Holmes sent a message on WhatsApp to a group of Australian journalists.

“If anyone at the doorstop with the medallists finds they have accidentally packed up an extra mic stand, it is probably ours … thanks heaps,” she wrote.

But the next day she wrote, “We have seen the security footage and know who took our tripod by accident. Please bring it back to the media centre so we don’t have to send a screenshot.’’

The article reports a Nine cameraman denied he had stolen the tripod, but picked it up from the press conference, thinking it was part of Nine’s gear.

However the twist in the tale is that Holmes’ cameraman — a local Chinese freelancer — had to work extremely hard to prevent Olympic security officials getting the local police involved.

The story could only be reported once the Aussies had all left China.