Canadian Olympian Dave Duncan, wife, Willy Raine fined in car theft, DUI case
By Nick Murray, CBC Sports, and Diana Swain, CBC News
Canadian ski cross athlete Dave Duncan, and his wife Maja, have each been fined one million South Korean won ($1,176 Cdn) for their roles in a car theft over the weekend in Pyeongchang, CBC News has learned.
The 35-year-old from London, Ont., finished in eighth in ski cross at the Pyeongchang Games, improving on his 24th place finish in Sochi in 2014. But his Olympics, likely his last, end under a cloud as none of the trio would be participating in the closing ceremony, it was announced.
Willy Raine, the High Performance Director for ski cross within Alpine Canada, was also fined five million won ($5,880 Cdn) for his involvement, which included driving the stolen red Hummer with a blood alcohol level of at least 0.16, well above South Korea's legal limit of 0.05.
Raine, 48, is the son of 1968 Olympic giant slalom champion and B.C. Senator Nancy Greene.
The trio were released from jail Saturday night, and will not be able to leave the country until the fines are paid. It's unclear whether their passports have been confiscated.
Late Saturday, the Duncans released a statement, apologizing for their actions.
"We are deeply sorry. We engaged in behaviour that demonstrated poor judgment and was not up to the standards expected of us as Members of the Canadian Olympic Team or as Canadians," the statement read.
Raine also apologized in a separate statement.
"Words are not enough to express how sorry I am," Raine said.
"I have let my teammates, friends and my family down. I would also like to apologize to the owner of the vehicle that was involved."
Hummer damaged, owner in disbelief
According to Young Gil Ahn, it was his Hummer that was stolen while it was idling outside to charge the battery after it died.
He said he went into a building for a coffee while he waited and called the police after he realized it was gone. It took officers about an hour to call him back saying they found it.
Ahn said the Canadians are responsible for damaging his Hummer during the drunken joyride, and he's wondering who's going to pay for it.
"Nobody cares about my car damage. The police said that I have to sue it as a civil case," Ahn told CBC News in Korean.
"This is ridiculous. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go."
Ahn said when he arrived, Duncan was holding onto a bag in the back seat filled with about 4 million won (roughly $4,700 Cdn) cash — something Ahn said he regularly carries, and still had in the Hummer the day after the ordeal.
But he said all the money was there when he got his Hummer back.
"I'm very surprised that all three people agreed to take the someone's car like that," Ahn said. "I can't believe that they let the coach drive the car. It's hard to believe it."
Car thefts are a rarity in South Korea, he said.
"I thought a normal tourist might have done it. I still can't believe a national athlete, his wife and his coach did this kind of thing," Ahn said.
"I can't really forgive them now. If they explain and apologize, I might understand and forgive them. But nobody has said anything to me at all. I just want to know why they did that."
