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Judo medalist helps subdue 'drunken' Olympic bottle-thrower

A medal-winning judoka said she had "beaten" the "drunken" fan who allegedly threw a bottle on the track at the Olympic Stadium before the start of the men's 100-meter final at the London Games.
Image: File photo shows Bronze medallist Edith Bosch of the  Netherlands as she celebrates after awards ceremony for women's -70kg final judo competition at London 2012 Olympic Games
Edith Bosch, a Dutch athelete who won a bronze medal in judo, said she helped subdue a rowdy fan who allegedly threw a bottle on the track moments before the start of the men's 100-meter final on Sunday night.Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
/ Source: NBC News and news services

A bronze medal-winning judoka said she had "beaten" the "drunken" fan who allegedly threw a bottle on the track at the Olympic Stadium about a second before the start of the men's 100-meter final at the London Games.

A spokesperson for London's Metropolitan Police told NBC News on Monday that a 34-year-old man was in police custody on suspicion of causing a public nuisance over the bottle incident.

The man, who police would not identify by name or nationality, has not yet been charged, the spokesperson said.

Police said the man was heard shouting abuse before he threw the bottle.

'Unbelievable'
Edith Bosch, 32, of the Netherlands, who placed third in the 70-kg. (154-lb.) category in judo earlier in the Games, wrote on Twitter that she was in the stands when the fan threw the bottle.

"A drunken guest threw a bottle … on the track! I HAVE BEATEN HIM … Unbelievable!" she wrote.

"Throwing a bottle on to the field of play is unacceptable not just at an Olympic Games, at any sports venue," the BBC quoted Sebastian Coe, the Olympic double gold-medalist and chief organizer of this year's Games, as saying. "The guy was removed; anyone who does that in future will be removed."

Image: A man is detained by security shortly af
A man is detained by security shortly after a bottle has been thrown onto the track the second the men's 100m final at the athletics was about to start on August 5, 2012 in London, during the London 2012 Olympic Games. AFP PHOTO / POOL /CHRIS HELGRENCHRIS HELGREN/AFP/GettyImagesChris Helgren / AFP

Coe added: "It was poetic justice that they did that sitting next to a judo player. I think the expression is 'Ippon'," referring to the highest score a fighter can earn in judo.

Bosch told Dutch TV she had slapped him around the head before he was taken away by police.

"I had seen the man walking around earlier and said to people around me that he was a peculiar bloke," The London Evening Standard quoted Bosch as telling NOS TV.

"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,” she was quoted as saying.

"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," Bosch was quoted as saying.

Bosch won her category at the 2005 World Judo Championship in Cairo.

Police did not comment on Bosch's claims.

"Man in front of me threw bottle onto track just at start! Had to be wrestled off ...," one spectator wrote on Twitter, according to The Telegraph newspaper.

Image: Olympics Day 9 - Athletics
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 05: A bottle is thrown onto the track at the start of 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)Adam Pretty / Getty Images Europe

"So a drunk p---- actually threw a bottle onto the track as 100m started! He got punched by Dutch judo bronze medallist Edith Bosch tho," the newspaper quoted another spectator as writing on Twitter.

Security was seen rushing toward one section of seats just after the 100-meter final started.

No effect on race
Olympic organizers told NBC they were aware of the incident and said it was being handled by London police.

"A man was arrested inside the Olympic Stadium [Sunday] evening after throwing a plastic bottle on to the track just before the men's 100m final," a spokesperson for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), told NBC News in a statement.

"The incident had no impact on the competitors or the event. LOCOG does not tolerate abusive or anti-social behavior and will seek to remove people behaving in this way from its venues,” the statement said.

'I was so focused, I didn't see anything'
The eight competitors in the final were apparently unaffected, and many said they did not know about the bottle until being told about it by reporters afterward.

"I just heard about it. I didn't actually see it," Jamaican Usain Bolt, who retained his 100-meter title in an Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds, said. "I don't promote violence. Sorry to hear that."

The bottle landed on the track about 10 meters behind the runners, who were already in the starting blocks. The bottle bounced a few times and came to rest in the lane occupied by Jamaica's Yohan Blake, who finished second in the race.

"I was so focused, I didn't see anything," Blake said.

"There was a little distraction," said American bronze medalist Justin Gatlin. "I didn't know what it was. But when you're in those blocks and the whole stadium is quiet, you can hear a pin drop, literally. So you just have to block it out and go out there and do what you have to do. You can't complain about that. The race went on. It was a great race."