A freestyle skiier on the Canadian Olympic team was arrested in Pyeongchang, South Korea over the weekend, after a night of celebratory drinking ended in a stolen Hummer and a drunk driving charge.
Dave Duncan, the 35-year-old who took fourth place in the men’s ski cross small final on Wednesday, putting him in eighth overall. He went out to celebrate with his wife, Maja, and his technical coach, Willy Raine. Things got out of hand though, as the three of them ended up in Hummer that didn’t belong to them.
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Raine was reportedly behind the wheel, and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 at the time of the arrest. In Pyeongchang, the legal limit is 0.05, and drunk driving can carry a sentence of three years in prison or a 3 million won fine. That translates to about $11,750 Canadian, or $9,300 USD.
The three of them were briefly taken into custody around midnight, but were released shortly after. Duncan and his wife released a statement, apologizing for the incident in a press conference on Saturday.
“We are deeply sorry. We engaged in behaviour that demonstrated poor judgement and was not up to the standards expected of us as Members of the Canadian Olympic Team or as Canadians,” they said.
Raine offered a separate apology, adding his remorse for the owner of the car.
“I would like to apologize profusely for my inexcusable actions,” he said. “Words are not enough to express how sorry I am. I have let my teammates, friends and my family down. I would also like to apologize to the owner of the vehicle that was involved,” he said in a statement.
The Canadian Olympic Committee kept fans updated as the scenario progressed.
“We can confirm that an incident occurred involving police around midnight Friday, early morning Saturday,” they said at first. “We have confirmation that individuals attached to our team were involved in the investigation and they’re cooperating. And we take this matter of course very, very seriously. However until we know the results of the investigation we’re not really in a position to comment further,’ he added.
Later on, when the police had concluded their investigation, the Committee issued a final word on the matter.
“The Korean police have concluded their investigation and our team members have been released. We expect our athletes and team members to conduct themselves responsibly and in keeping with our Canadian and Olympic values. We are deeply disappointed in the behaviours of these individuals. All team members are expected to respect the laws of South Korea and all places we compete in around the world.”
Just the day before, Duncan had posted a long, heartfelt message about his mindset throughout the games.
“So this is what an Olympics is supposed to feel like. A solid 8th place here in [Pyeongchang 2018]. My best skiing of the season and an effort I’m proud of,” he wrote. His Instagram profile has since been deleted.
