KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) - Locked in a bathroom inside the athlete’s village, U.S. Olympic bobsledder Johnny Quinn knew only one way to get out.
Through the door. Literally.
Quinn said on his Twitter account that he was taking a shower and the “door got locked/jammed.” A former NFL player with Green Bay and Buffalo, Quinn did some serious damage while tearing apart the door, which didn’t stand a chance against the brawny, 6-foot-2, 220-pounder from McKinney, Texas.
Quinn posted a photo of a gaping hole in the former door, saying “With no phone to call for help, I used my bobsled push training to break out. (hashtag) SochiJailBreak.
A U.S. team spokeswoman could not say whether Quinn will have to pay for the door.
“Well, it was an unfortunate situation, but I got out safely,” Quinn told NBC’s “Today.”
Quinn said the Russians have done a great job with constructing venues, though he’s probably happy that the door wasn’t a touch more sturdy. If nothing else, he got to put his sled-pushing abilities into a real-life situation. “Bobsled athletes are a little bit bigger individuals,” Quinn said, “so I had to make sure the hole was big enough to get out.”
Quinn, who played collegiately at North Texas, didn’t try bobsled until 2010, one year after a knee injury ended his football career while playing in the Canadian Football League for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
When Quinn gives up bobsled, he may have a future as an interior decorator - or a wrecking ball.
Here’s the link to the photo he posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnnyQuinnUSA/status/432080704776962048
- Tom Withers - Twitter https://twitter.com/twithersAP
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Associated Press reporters will be filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: https://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
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