Four bombs exploded during a World
Outgames track and field event Tuesday, injuring one runner,
eye-witnesses reported.
Keith Little and Sam Felker, a
Nashville couple competing in the games, wrote about the incident at
their blog samnkeithworldlesstraveled.blogspot.com.
One runner was treated on the scene for
a minor hand injury after two bombs detonated during an afternoon
track event. The devices appeared to have been tossed from a nearby
church tower, the men said.
While police searched the premises, two
more bombs exploded, this time no injuries were reported.
“We are all stunned by this turn of
events,” the men said. “We are also determined that this will
not stop or spoil the Outgames.”
Felker is in Copenhagen, Denmark to
compete in a triathlon, while Little is defending gold medals in the
javelin throw and hammer.
The incident comes on the heels of a
gay bashing incident that marred the opening of the games on
Saturday.
Police say three men – from England,
Norway and Sweden – were punched and kicked in Copenhagen's gay
district, the Vester Voldgade and Studiestraede area of the city.
Witnesses say they heard the attackers yell “homo pig” as they
assaulted the men. The three men escaped serious injury but were
treated at a local hospital.
Two Danish men, 28 and 33, were
detained by police who are treating the assaults as hate crimes. A
judged ruled on Sunday to keep the men in custody until August 4, two
days after the conclusion of World Outgames. The judge said that to
release the men before the end of the gay festival would “affront
the public's sense of justice.”
Outgames organizers called Saturday's
attack an “isolated” incident.
After today's incident, police collared
one suspect and continue to search for a second, according to the
blog post.
World Outgames is the nine-day LGBT
festival that combines sport, culture and politics. Over 5,000
athletes are expected to compete in more than 30 events in Denmark's
capital. The games opened on Saturday.
Denmark's commitment to gay rights
includes granting civil unions to gay men and lesbians in 1989.