The men’s 400-meter hurdle race was one of the most anticipated races in the Stockholm Diamond League, but the final climax was spoiled by activists who protested in several events in Sweden.
Top runner of the season Karsten Warholm took an overwhelming victory in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, but the Norwegian’s attention was drawn more than the rest of the time by the protesters who took over the track at the end.
Three people had positioned themselves on the track so that the banners between them covered most of the tracks. Warholm reached the finish line without any problems and clocked a time of 47.57. The activists on the course disturbed other runners considerably more.
Warholm was furious after the race.
– That is completely idiotic and reprehensible, Warholm said to SVT.
– They have the right to protest, but that is sickeningly sad. You can’t do it like that, it’s about anything.
Behind the protest is the environmental organization Återställ Våtmarker, which has previously disrupted Melodifestivalen, Sweden’s Dancing with the Stars program and Allång på Skansen.
One Expressen’s the activist interviewed said that the organization carries out such attacks because people die every day due to climate disasters and politicians do nothing.
Competition Director Jan Kowalski stated for SVTthat the race organizers were prepared for something like this to happen.
– We cannot have riot fences throughout the stadium. We did what we could and were there quickly. It’s hard to know where they’re coming from, though, Kowalski said.