Aussie Rower Sent Home After Drunken Arrest In London

Oh those crazy Australians. Josh Booth, a member of the Australian Olympic Rowing Team, was sent home from London after he was arrested on a drunken rampage earlier this week.

Booth’s competitive days at the 2012 London Olympics were over (the Australian team finished in last place during the eight man rowing event at Eton Dorney) so it’s not too surprising that Booth decided to have a few drinks while touring around London.

But Booth may have taken his celebration a little too far.

According to Yahoo, Booth smashed the window of a small engineering firm on Wednesday night during an “emotional outburst.”

The 21-year-old Olympian apologized for the incident today, saying:

“I’m deeply ashamed of my actions on Wednesday night, they do not in any way reflect the type of values I hold, the type of person I am and the person I aspire to be… My behavior was uncharacteristic but nonetheless I fully accept the reprimands of the Australian Olympic Committee and I’ll regret my behaviour for many years to come.”

Chief Superintendent Gavin Stephens said that Booth wouldn’t be facing any criminal charges sinc e the victims decided not to press charges. Instead, Booth will pay for the window and do his best to put the incident behind him.

Booth added:

“The damage I caused was not motivated by any malicious intent to steal or destroy but was rather an emotional outburst – an inappropriate expression of my disappointment and frustration at our result in a very hard-fought final. As a young athlete I have made a very grave, public mistake in not dealing with the emotional surfeits of the competition in an appropriate and healthy manner.”

Booth is scheduled to leave London on Saturday.

Booth isn’t the only athlete who was forced to leave London early. A Greek triple jumper, a Swiss Soccer Player, and a German rower were also sent home early from the games. Booth, however, is the only one to smash a window in a drunken rage.