There was an unaccredited stowaway when the rest of the Australian athletics team arrived in Rio from their training camp in Florida.
He was small and fluffy, and had not even brought a passport. And his name was Teddy.
Teddy emerged from the plane tucked under the arm of decathlete Cedrick Dubler, Australia's first decathlete since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Teddy immediately charmed the waiting media.
"Teddy bear travels with me everywhere," Dubler told reporters.
"He’s been with me for a number of years now and we’ve heard a lot of stuff about the beds might not be ready, the village might not be ready, so I figured if I have the teddy bear I can sleep anywhere and deal with it."
Dubler said while Teddy did not follow him to training every day, he was his frequent overseas travel companion.
"If he can comfort me a little bit and keep me grounded then that will be good," he said.
"He doesn't have a passport though, but I managed to get him through and he's with me all the time."
Dubler said he would attempt to find an Australia shirt for Teddy to shore up his Australian supporter credentials and he already had a plan to get his mascot, who does not have official Olympic accreditation, into the athletes village.
"I think I’m going to try and get him in my bag and sneak him in."
