BREAK THRU
Gold medal for escape from loo
MEET U.S. Olympian Johnny Quinn. Four-man bobsledder, one-man wrecking crew.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound ex-NFL player, trapped inside a locked bathroom Saturday, smashed his way to freedom through the door in his new Sochi digs.
“I was taking a shower and the door got locked/jammed. . . . With no phone to call for help, I used my bobsled push training to break out,” he wrote on Twitter.
The tweets were accompanied by a snapshot of the broken door after Quinn’s personal Olympic opening ceremony.
The shattered remains (right) looked like the door was fashioned out of corrugated cardboard, with Quinn tearing an impromptu window in the top half.
The picture turned Quinn into an instant celebrity, including an appearance on “Today.”
“In the next day or so, tune in with ‘Good Morning America,’ CNN, Fox Sports as I will be on LIVE discussing di i d doors,” ” h he tweeted.
It was unclear if Quinn, a former Canadian Football League player who also had stints with the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills, would have to pay for the door.
“Well, it was an unfortunate
situation,” s said the 29-year-old on “Today.” “But I got out safely.”
So did the passengers aboard a hijacked commercial airliner headed h to Turkey.
Officials said Saturday that the t would-be hijacker, a Ukrainian national, wanted the release of anti-government protesters p in his homeland.
Artem Hozlov, 45, was likely acting alone when he tried to redirect the plane to Sochi, officials o said.
Also Saturday, three animal rights r activists caused a stir in Moscow when they unfurled a banner near Red Square that read “Bloody Olympics” and depicted a puppy covered in blood.
One of the protesters was arrested. The others fled when a cop grabbed their banner.
In the runup to the Olympics, authorities announced a contract to “catch and dispose” of strays in Sochi.