Olympic gymnast incurs $5 000 Pokemon Go bill

Cape Town - Olympic gymnast Kohei Uchimura was shocked to discover he had racked up a $5 000 cell phone bill playing Pokemon Go in Rio.

The 27-year-old Japanese, who won the all-around gold medal at London 2012, incurred the data roaming charges playing the mobile game after arriving in Brazil for the Olympics.

Team-mate Kenzo Shirai was quoted as saying that Uchimura "looked dead at the team meal that day" after finding out about his bill.

Luckily for Uchimura, his phone company has agreed to let him pay a daily flat rate, meaning he will only be charged 3000 yen ($30) per day for his cell phone use while in Rio instead of the 500 000 yen ($5 000) he thought he would have to pay.

"I really lucked out," he told Japan's Kyodo news agency.

Pokemon Go has become hugely popular since launching last month.