UK cyclist’s father held for partisan paint job
A Welshman believed to be the father of former world champion cyclist Nicole Cooke was arrested on Saturday for painting his daughter’s name on an Athens street where she was due to ride in yesterday’s Olympic women’s road race. «The father, Anthony Cooke, and another Welshman wanted to show their support for the daughter so they used white paint to write her name on the street, breaching security cordons,» a police official told Reuters. «They were arrested on the spot.» She said the men spray-painted the daughter’s name on a central Athens road in the posh Kolonaki neighborhood. The men were released after police checked their identities. In major international races, fans paint the names of their favorites on the road leading to the finish. Cooke, 21, the 2000 world champion, finished fifth. (Reuters)
