An Australian man was taken into custody on Monday after attempting to disrupt the start of the men’s 100m final at the Paris Olympics, a French police source told AFP.
The 24-year-old, wearing a T-shirt bearing the messages “Free Palestine” and “Free Ukraine”, was stopped by a steward at the Stade de France ahead of Sunday’s blue riband sprint.
However, the incident caused a long pause before the world’s fastest men were called to the start line.
“There was an attempted pitch invasion at the 100m final,” said chief Games organiser Tony Estanguet, after images emerged on social media of security agents pinning someone to the ground on the edge of the track.
“The private security reacted very well. They are well prepared, they are rigorous, they are professional and the police are doing a great job,” added Estanguet.
The athletes waited a long time but Estanguet played down the incident.
“People are talking about four minutes but I’ve been told it’s more like a minute and a half,” he said.
“For one event, the last event of the evening, that’s not too bad… they waited until everyone was ready to start this 100m race,” added Estanguet.
The 100m final was certainly worth the wait, US sprint king Noah Lyles blasting to gold in the closest race in modern Olympic history.
Lyles said he did not see the incident.
