No one wants to think that an attack against LGBTs is possible, especially in a country that was the first ever to legalize same-sex marriages.
But the 2009 Outgames have been plagued this year with two attacks. One involved an attack on three gay men after the opening ceremonies and another one involved a bomb on the track.
According to the Copenhagen Post, two men, 23 and 28, assaulted three gay men in central Copenhagen after calling them “Homo pigs.” The two attackers have criminal records, the paper says, and a judge ordered them locked up until the end of the games. They will face charges following the worldwide LGBT athletic event.
Seattle runner Dean Koga was injured on the third day of the Outgames when a bomb was tossed on the track, sending shrapnel into his right hand. According to reports, the men’s 4X200 55-59 age group was preparing to start the race when an explosion was heard near the starting line. After a short delay, the race was set to resume but what was later determined to be a second bonb was tossed near the athletes, where it “lit up the whole area,” according to one of the Seattle Frontrunners, who was warming up at the time.
When the second bomb hit the ground, Koga immediately felt the impact of shrapnel ricocheting off the ground and into the top part of his hand.
“I felt a sting and there was blood flowing down from the [relay] baton I was holding,” Koga told Outsports.com.
By the time authorities arrived, a third bomb was tossed under the van of a film crew. Police chased and captured one man and charged him with a hate crime. They later determined the suspect, whose name was not available, had thrown the first two bombs from the scaffolding of a nearby church.
No other injuries were reported and the Outgames resumed nearly two hours later.
On a positive note, Koga returned the next day and won a Gold medal in the men’s 200 meters.
