A French canoe-kayak coach allegedly hit police who had stopped him for public urination in Paris

PARIS -- A French canoe and kayak coach working at the Paris Olympics was detained after allegedly hitting police officers who had stopped him for urinating in the street, prosecutors said.

The French canoe and kayak federation said the coach, Guillaume Berge, was suspended from his duties. It said Berge was not coaching French teams at the Olympics, but was hosting public service events at the canoeing and kayaking venue in Vaires-sur-Marne east of Paris.

The incident occurred overnight Monday to Tuesday in eastern Paris, and a preliminary investigation was opened, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. No other details were released pending further investigation.

There was no immediate comment from Berge or his lawyer.

‘’What we heard is unacceptable, and we suspended him from all his duties,’’ federation president Ludovic Royé told The Associated Press.

Berge coached French teams until the world championships last year but was not chosen to coach during the Olympics, Royé said. Instead, the federation hired Berge to work at the Olympic venue to encourage public interest in the sports via virtual kayaking and children’s events.

The incident occurred after France’s Nicolas Gestin gave the federation a boost by winning a gold medal in men’s single canoe slalom on Monday.

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