OPINION: Ryan Tyack's a hero, he deserves better than this

RYAN Tyack is, without question, one of the heroes of the 2016 Olympic Games.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 06: (L-R) Ryan Tyack, Taylor Worth and Alec Potts of Australia celebrate beating China during the Men's Team Third Place match on Day 1 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Sambodromo on August 6, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images). Picture: Paul Gilham

RYAN Tyack is, without question, one of the heroes of the 2016 Olympic Games.

Not only was the Mapleton man, with his archery teammates, the first Australian to claim a medal at Rio, he, along with Taylor Worth and Alec Potts, is one of the first Australians to win a team archery medal at any Olympic Games.

It's a staggering achievement, particularly given this is his first time representing Australia at an Olympic Games (he only just missed out on selection for the London Olympics four years ago).

So to have that achievement marred by being detained by Rio police, held overnight and threatened with prison when he and his fellow Australian detainees had done nothing wrong goes beyond galling.

The Australian Olympic Committee has had the decency to apologise to the athletes and to make their innocence clear to the world.

Thanks to the AOC and Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller stepping up, none of the 10 athletes detained by police face the risk of jail terms or criminal convictions, but they will still have to face court and fines of more than $4000 each - fines you'd expect the AOC will have to foot on the athletes behalf.

You could call it a case of all's well that ends well. However, it's a trauma Mr Tyack and his fellow athletes, who have brought nothing but credit to Australia should never have had to endure.

The AOC's apology is a good start, but it's not enough.

We need a full accounting of how this mistake happened and what will be done to ensure it is never repeated.

Originally published as OPINION: Ryan Tyack's a hero, he deserves better than this