STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Olympic champion Karsten Warholm won his 400-meter hurdles race on Sunday and then turned to join in the crowd booing environmental protesters who disrupted the Diamond League event near the finish.
Three people kneeled on the track about eight meters (yards) from the line holding two banners that spanned from lanes one to six, forcing runners to break through them. No athlete appeared to be hurt.
Environmental activists stage a protest to disrupt the men’s 400-meter hurdles during the Diamond League on July 2, 2023. (Fredrik Persson/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
Warholm running in lane eight had no barrier in his way though seemed distracted, with a fourth apparent protester squatting in lane seven seeming to photograph the incident.
Complete morons. pic.twitter.com/i2xngdgOsj
— James Rhodes (@James_Athletics) July 2, 2023
He was visibly angry with the protesters as they were led away while spectators booed.
An environmental activist is led off the track after disrupting the men’s 400-meter hurdles at the Stockholm Stadium on July 2, 2023. (Fredrik Persson/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
The Norwegian star later told national broadcaster NRK the protest was disrespectful to athletes doing their job.
Warholm’s winning time on a cool, rainy evening was 47.57 seconds, well outside his 45.94 world record set at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.
An unusual evening’s work for Warholm included warming up in a parking garage in downtown Stockholm so that, he said later, he could arrive “dry and warm coming to the start.”