Australian Rower Arrested, Briefly Hospitalized After Breaking Two Windows

It’s one thing not to medal in the Olympics…it’s a whole different ballgame when you get arrested there.

Hours after the Australian rowing team finished in sixth place in the men’s rowing final, the team went out to drawn their sorrows away with alcohol.

Apparently, one member had a few too many.

According to The Age, 21-year-old Josh Booth went on a drunken rampage, smashing multiple windows of shopfronts in a west London village. He was arrested for suspicion of criminal damage to businesses, then proceeded to faint and drill his head according to the report. He was then taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The police planned to question the Melbourne University student Friday to figure out what exactly he did.

To add injury to insult, his coach, Andrew Matheson, had specifically warned his team to not abuse alcohol with their Olympic event now completed. Teammate Toby Lister told The Age of the last time he saw his teammate:

"

Being one of the first crews finishing up it was important to be respectful to the other rowers. Obviously we were disappointed at coming sixth in an Olympic final. We had a few beers in the afternoon and the last time I saw him was about 10 O’clock. He was fine, he was absolutely fine.

"

Rowing Australian CEO Andrew Dee has declined to comment.

The statement made by International Olympic Committee spokesmen Mark Adams didn’t sound too sympathetic towards Booth (via The Age): ”The Australian case is in the hands of the police and the Australian Olympic Committee are dealing with it.”

It’s a blackeye for Australia in an Olympics to forget. They have fallen short of expectations in multiple sports including rowing, and now have one of the more embarrassing stories of the first week on their resume as well. 

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