LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: Runners get ready to leave the starters block to start the Men’s 100m Final on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 5, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: Runners leave the starters block to start the Men’s 100m Final on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 5, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: A spectator is detained by security after a beer bottle was thrown on to the track during the start of the men’s 100 metres final, on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 5, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Helgren – IOPP Pool /Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: A spectator is detained by security after a beer bottle was thrown on to the track during the start of the men’s 100 metres final, on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 5, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Helgren – IOPP Pool /Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates winning gold in the Men’s 100m Final on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 5, 2012 in London, England.(Photo by Julia Vynokurova/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates winning gold in the Men’s 100m Final on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 5, 2012 in London, England.(Photo by Julia Vynokurova/Getty Images)
A vending machine worker from Leeds, England was arrested during the Olympics for throwing a bottle into the arena not long after heckling Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. He was grabbed by security but not until after he was slapped by Dutch judo competitor, Edith Bosch.
Moments before the race started, Ashley Gill-Webb, 34, appears to shout “Oi. You’re not going to win,” as well as other insults, according to bystanders.
The Daily Mail reports that Bolt was unaware of the incident. “No, I keep hearing that. I don’t know who would have done that,” he reportedly said. Right as the race was about to begin, Gill allegedly threw a plastic bottle onto the track behind the start line, narrowly missing the athletes.
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Edith Bosch, 32, a judo medalist for The Netherlands, was standing nearby when the bottle was thrown, and she was not amused. She is said to have slapped the man just before he was grabbed by security.
She posted on Twitter in Dutch: “a drunk guy threw a bottle on the track in front of me – I hit him…. Unbelievable! # angry # disrespectful.”
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She later told Dutch television station NOS TV: “I had seen the man walking around earlier and said to people around me that he was a peculiar bloke. Then he threw that bottle and in my emotion I hit him on the back with the flat of my hand. Then he was scooped up by the security. However, he did make me miss the final, and I am very sad about that. I just cannot understand how someone can do something like that.”
Usain Bolt went on to win gold for that 100m race with 9.63 seconds, just .05 of a second off his world mark which won him the title of World’s Fastest Man.
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