Man held after bottle thrown on to 100m track PDF Print E-mail
Sunday, 05 August 2012 21:47
A man has been arrested after a bottle was thrown on to the track seconds before the start of the men's 100m final at the Olympic Stadium. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a man had been heard shouting abuse and was then seen throwing a bottle. It landed behind the sprinters.
US athlete Justin Gatlin, who won bronze, said the bottle had been a "little distraction".
Nobody was injured and the event was not disrupted, police said.
Speaking after the race, won by Jamaican Usain Bolt, Gatlin said: "I didn't know what it was, but when you're in those blocks and the whole stadium's quiet you can hear a pin drop."
Gatlin said the incident had not affected the race.
"You just have to block it out and go out there and do what you got to do. You can't complain about that, the race went on and it was a great race."
The suspect is being held in police custody at an east London police station on suspicion of causing a public nuisance.
Bolt told reporters he had been unaware of the incident.
He added: "No, I keep hearing that. I don't know who would have done that."
Fellow Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake, who came second, said: "I was so focused I didn't see anything. I was so focused on just running to the line."
Dutch judo bronze medallist Edith Bosch claimed on Twitter that she had "beaten" the person who had thrown the bottle.
She said: "A drunken spectator threw a bottle onto the track! I HAVE BEATEN HIM .... unbelievable."(BBC Sport)
 

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