James Dasaolu has been fined £8,000 and warned about his future conduct after he threw a water cooler from a balcony in Sheffield. The sprint prodigy was said to be irate with the water cooler after the liquid it dispensed did not meet his high standards of cleanliness. Calling it "f****** rank" the Croydon man slammed the cup on the floor and then stunned observers by picking the entire unit up and dumping it over the railing. The cooler fell 20 feet and has not worked since.
It is understood that Dasaolu - who has since apologised for his behaviour - became worked up after struggling for "over an hour" to use the lift. An onlooker said "it was really strange. He couldn't figure out the difference between the ground floor and the first floor. He kept going up and down until one his coaches came to assist him." Dasaolu then had a disappointing workout - which included a heated row with a door that "deliberately closed on him" - before the now infamous water cooler incident.
UKA said that they would now be drawing a line under the matter and denied making an example of Dasaolu. "We could have banned him from competition but decided against it," said a spokesman "the important thing is that he realises that such behaviour is absolutely unacceptable." Dasaolu has been banned from using the indoor facility in Sheffield and will attend a 'water cooler awareness workshop' at UKA Headquarters next month.