Canada Games mooner gets medal back

Last Updated: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 | 11:52 AM ET

CBC Sports

Daniel Blouin, the Quebec athlete who was disqualified from the Canada Games after mooning the crowd, had his bronze medal returned by a fellow competitor.

Blouin, of Le Gardeur, Que., received the medal Tuesday from Ontario runner Reid Coolsaet. Coolsaet, of Hamilton, was awarded the bronze in the 3,000-metre steeplechase after Blouin was disqualified from the event in London, Ont., on Aug. 22.

Blouin paid tribute to Coolsaet, who is a close friend.

Reid Coolsaet (pictured) gave Daniel Blouin his bronze medal back.(CP PHOTO)

"I won this medal by finishing third in the 3,000-metre steeplechase and I think it's an honourable gesture by Reid Coolsaet," Blouin said. "Reid finished fourth and he didn't think he deserved the bronze medal."

Blouin, 23, decided to moon a section of the crowd after finishing third in the race. Unfortunately for him, the head judge of the Games was standing nearby.

Blouin later apologized for the gesture but organizers promptly disqualified him, citing sportsmanship rules laid down by the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world track and field governing body.

Blouin was sent home by Quebec officials who said they didn't want him to become a distraction.

But Blouin has received support from many of the young athletes who took part in the games. A group of Blouin's teammates held an impromptu medal ceremony Tuesday in Sherbrooke, Que., where Blouin studies physical education.

"Daniel didn't deserve that punishment," said Stephen DeBardi, a teammate of Blouin's on a Montreal track club.

Blouin admitted that a national track meet was not the place to drop his pants. But he continued to reject the accusations of poor sportsmanship, repeating earlier statements that the gesture was brief and the punishment didn't fit the crime.

"They banned me from the Games as if I was on drugs, a cheater," he said.