A Canadian athlete, his wife and his trainer were detained by South Korean police after drunkenly driving off in an unoccupied, idling car in Pyeongchang on Saturday, according to Reuters. Local press reported that the car was a pink Hummer.
When police pulled the vehicle over, they discovered technical skiing coach Willy Raine behind the wheel with a blood-alcohol level of 0.16, CBC reported. The legal limit in South Korea is 0.05. He was charged with drunk driving. Raine, alpine skier Dave Duncan and his wife Maja were all charged with car theft.
Duncan, from Ontario, finished in eighth place in ski cross on Wednesday, beating his 24th place finish in Sochi in 2014. The skier is decorated in the X-Games, where he won bronze in 2012 and silver in 2010.
A detail from his Canadian Olympic team biography notes that after Duncan's first day on the slopes as a child, his mother brought him his own skiing gear; he began jumping on a couch in excitement, causing him to fall and break his arm.
Raine competed in the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics. He is the son of Canadian skiing legend Nancy Greene, who won gold in women's giant slalom and silver in women's slalom in the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics. She is currently a senator for British Columbia.
The three were released on Saturday after police concluded their investigation. according to Reuters. Its results will be sent to South Korean prosecution and, unless the alleged offense is deemed a serious crime, Raine, Duncan and his wife will be able to leave the country after paying a fine. For now, they are restricted from leaving South Korea.
"We have an athlete's agreement that all athletes do sign before they agree to come to the Olympic games that speaks to appropriate codes of conduct and the values of the Olympic committee," said Chris Overholt, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, at a press conference. "We are deeply disappointed in the behaviors of these individuals."
The couple released a joint apology, noting: "We engaged in behavior that demonstrated poor judgement and was not up to the standards expected of us as Members of the Canadian Olympic Team or as Canadians."
"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," reads a statement from Raine.
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