Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2025 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Sports

Man charged in Olympic bottle throwing incident

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 1e5322c0-London Olympics Athletics Men
    Image 1 of 2

    A bottle lands on the track after being thrown from the crowd as, from let, Jamaica's Usain Bolt, United States' Justin Gatlin, Jamaica's Yohan Blake, Jamaica's Yohan Blake, and United States' Tyson Gay start in the men's 100-meter final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) (AP2012)

  • London Olympics Bottle Thrower Arrested
    Image 2 of 2

    In this Sunday Aug. 6, 2012 photo, a man, identified by police as Ashley Gill-Webb, 34, is detained by security after a bottle was thrown onto the track just before the men's 100-meter final at the London 2012 Olympic Games in London August 5, 2012. Gill-Web was charged Monday Aug. 6 with a public order offense and was to appear later in custody at Stratford Magistrates Court. He was charged with intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress, police said. (AP Photo/Chris Helgren, Pool) (AP2012)

LONDON – An Olympic spectator accused of hurling a plastic bottle onto the stadium track seconds before the men's 100-meter final pleaded not guilty Monday to creating a public nuisance.

Ashley Gill-Webb spoke only to deny the charge and confirm his personal details during a brief appearance at Stratford Magistrates Court. He was granted conditional bail with a trial scheduled for Sept. 3.

District Judge Angus Hamilton banned Gill-Webb, 34, of Leeds in northern England, from any Olympic venue and the entire Olympic Park for the duration of the games.

In addition to throwing the bottle, he was charged with using threatening words, disorderly behavior and harassment.

As he left the court, Gill-Webb — who wore a gray hooded jacket and had an asthma inhaler in his mouth — shouted abuse at waiting reporters.

Sunday's race, won by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, was not disrupted.

Gill-Webb's actions enraged Dutch judo bronze-medal winner Edith Bosch, who was inside the stadium near him. She told Dutch TV she intervened after the bottle was thrown and pushed Gill-Webb in the back, causing her to miss the race.

"I'm not suggesting vigilantism but it was actually poetic justice that they happened to be sitting next to a judo player," said Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organizing committee.

Police said Gill-Webb is alleged to have also shouted abuse before hurling the bottle just before the race began.

Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who won the race in an Olympic-record time of 9.63 seconds, said he was unaware of the incident. However, U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin, who won the bronze medal, said he had been briefly distracted.

"When you're in those blocks and the whole stadium's quiet you can hear a pin drop," Gatlin said, acknowledging he had heard the bottle land. "You can't complain about that, the race went on and it was a great race."