Dutch gold medalist apologizes for injuring fans at Olympic party
The Heineken House is legendary at the Olympics for hosting wild parties thrown by the Dutch, but one celebration went too far in PyeongChang on Wednesday night.
Two fans were injured after four Dutch speedskaters threw a giant mock medal into the crowd. Dutch media said one fan was treated onsite, while another was taken to a nearby hospital.
The four athletes involved were Sven Kramer, Jan Blokhuijsen, Patrick Roest and Koen Verweij. The quartet twas celebrating taking home the bronze medal in the men’s team pursuit, a race in which they were heavily favored.
It’s a tradition for each Dutch medal winner to receive the large medal, which is then given to the crowd to pass around. But instead of making sure the transfer went smoothly, the four skaters threw it into a crowd that was either not ready or not able to catch it.
Here is the ill-advised toss:
A Dutch newspaper also reported that Kramer got testy with fans at Heineken House for making noise while he was conducting an interview.
After being hammered on social media and in the media for the incidents, Kramer issued an apology on Twitter written in Korean.
— Sven Kramer (@SvenKramer86) February 22, 2018
Roughly translated, it reads: “Hello Korean fans. I apologize for the injury last night in the Heineken House representing our team. You came here to cheer the Netherlands’ ice sports team. But accidents happen and I apologize for this. And I hope for a quick recovery. And I will try my best to show a good performance. Thank you.”
Kramer, 31, won his third straight gold medal in the 5,000 meters earlier in the games, setting an Olympic record in the process. He is still searching for his elusive gold in the 10,000 meters, finishing sixth this time around.
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