Two Austrian athletes receive Winter Olympics kidnap threat

The Austrian Olympic Committee has received an anonymous letter containing a kidnap threat against two of its team members who will be in Sochi for the Winter Olympics.

The letter, written in German, was delivered on Monday into the mailbox of its Vienna office, AOC general secretary Peter Mennel said. The athletes named were Alpine skier Marlies Schild and skeleton pilot Janine Flock.

"We have immediately alerted the Federal Criminal Agency, which is investigating the case," Mennel said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck confirmed the ongoing investigation, adding that Russian authorities had been informed and that no information would be made public if or when additional security measures were established for Schild and Flock.

The AOC said in a statement that it was "not regarding it as an acute threat at the moment".

Mennel discussed the matter with Flock on Tuesday during a flight from Vienna to Sochi.