Speedskaters from the Netherlands won’t be winning any medals for this performance at the Winter Olympics.
Sven Kramer, Jan Blokhuijsen, Patrick Roest and Koen Verweij tossed a gigantic replica of the bronze medal they won in the men’s team pursuit event into the crowd at Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Wednesday night.
Their ill-considered stunt at Holland Heineken House injured two women, and one was taken to hospital to be treated for a cut, reports NL Times.
RTL Nieuws shared footage of the incident online, and it’s now going viral:
Kramer, who won a gold medal in the men’s 5,000-meter speedskating event on the opening weekend of the games, later apologized in Korean on Twitter:
Yahoo News translated his message:
“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.”
The incident was “very regrettable,” the four Netherlands speedskaters added in an official statement obtained by NL Times.
“Let it be clear that we obviously never intended to cause this,” it added. “We let them know that and in this way we also want to let the public know.”
Kramer is scheduled to compete in the men’s mass start event on Saturday.
