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Tony Estanguet, President of the Olympic Organizing Committee, explained on Monday that the delay in the start of the men’s 100m final at the Paris Olympic Games on Sunday evening was due to an attempted intrusion on the track.
“There was an attempted intrusion (on Sunday) into the 100 m final. Right away, private security reacted very well. People are prepared, they’re rigorous, they’re professionals and the police are doing a remarkable job,” confided Tony Estanguet in Châteauroux, on the site of the shooting events, clearing up the mystery as to why the start of the race was delayed on Sunday evening. The Cojo president did not specify the circumstances of the intrusion.
Several media outlets relayed images posted on social networks showing a man being tackled to the ground near the track by members of the security team before being evacuated from the stadium. Competitors in the 100m race waited several minutes in front of their racing lanes before being invited to move to the starting blocks.
“They talk about four minutes, but what I was told was more like a minute and a half,” said Tony Estanguet. “On the scale of an event, the last event of the evening, it’s not that serious. I think that the International [Athletics] Federation is the one that decides whether or not to kick off events when all the conditions are right. They waited until everyone was ready before launching the 100 m.”
American Noah Lyles, winner of track and field’s premier event at the Olympics, said he had seen nothing of the incident.
This article was originally written by Justine Saint-Sevin for L’Équipe