HAMPSHIRE sailor Ben Ainslie will be returning home from Australia without a World Championship medal after a bizarre altercation with a TV crew.
The 34-year-old triple gold medalist lost his temper with press on board a nearby boat as he crossed the finish line in todays race in second place.
It’s believed he became angry because the TV crew passed him too closely, creating a big chop – and prompting him to jump out of his boat, swim to the other boat and board it.
He then was seen in an angry exchange with the cameraman and the boats skipper before he pushed past them, dived back into the water and swam back to his dinghy.
A Twitter posting from Skandia Team GBR this afternoon read: "Ben Ainslie disqualified from races nine and 10 for today's incident with the press boat. He can no longer win a medal at the World Championships."
Ainslie issued an immediate apology following the incident which led to race organisers reporting him for alleged gross misconduct.
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