If we talked in past days about athletes being careless with social media use, the irresponsibility news of the day would be related to alcohol abuse. The rower Josh Booth from Australia was detained by police for causing damage to a storefront. Apparently he smashed two windows, severely damaging them.

Josh Booth, age-21, was debuting in London in the Olympic Games, and was apparently under the influence of alcohol during the incident. The incident took place a few hours after he disputed the men’s eight on rowing, where his team ended up in the last position.

Nick Green, head of the Australian delegation and former Olympic rowing champion, said to the press that police contacted him by telephone at 3.30 AM to notify him of the arrest of one of their athletes.

According to Green, the rower, collapsed in the police station where he was interrogated, hitting his head, and had to be taken to a hospital. The Australian athlete was subsequently released without charge. However, Booth will have to go back to the police station: “No charges have been laid but he has to go back to the police station tomorrow (Friday) where the police will investigate the matter,” said Nick Green.

Australian team leader added that they will make a decision on possible disciplinary action to punish Booth for his actions.

This has not been the first incident related to alcohol in this Olympics. South Korean sailing coach Lee Jae-cheol was sent home last week from the London Games after being caught by police drunk driving on his way back to the athletes’ village.

Image Courtesy of   jo.sau

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About the author

Francisco Fajardo
Journalist graduated from the Navarra University, he has worked on newspapers and radio in Spain. His passions are sports, history and politics. Now he is part of the Toonari Post team.