STOCKHOLM, Sweden: 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.
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.
He was visibly angry with the protesters as they were led away while spectators booed.
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.”
