If you have ever come across Aussies in the wild, then stories of the Australian Olympic teams trashing an airplane won’t come as much of a surprise. It’s kind of what they do. They are a loud and rambunctious people. That’s not an insult or stereotype. It’s the truth.
I vividly remember my first run-in with Aussies in a Croatian hostel. They were boisterous and obsessed with giving people nicknames. I was Robocop Junior. No idea why. It’s just what they decided. Anyway, this group from down under were drunk, noisy and bouncing off-the-walls for the three days I was there. Every experience with an Australian since that has been similar.
Let’s return our focus to the news of Australian Olympic teams trashing an airplane. According to reports, 49 Australian Olympians from nine sports were on the flight including the rugby 7s and men’s soccer sides. They were basically making a total ass of themselves and annoying everyone else unfortunate enough to be stuck on the 10-hour flight from Tokyo to Sydney.
More Olympics: 5 crappy cities that would be perfect hosts for the 2036 Summer Olympics
“They were loud and disruptive to other members of the flight. They failed to respond to requests made to do whatever they needed to do on the flight,” Australia’s Olympic team Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman told local media. “And then there was also the issue of at least one person being sick in the toilet and leaving that inoperable for the remainder of the flight.”
The Australian Olympic teams being drunk and annoying on an airplane would have been annoying to deal with. But blowing up a toilet takes the cake. Seriously, those bathrooms are bad enough as is. To annihilate one on a 10-hour flight is just plain cruel.
It’s also a very Australian thing to do. What doesn’t make sense here is the fact the Olympians on the plane didn’t have much of a reason to celebrate. The Australian men’s soccer team finished last in their group. The rugby 7s team had a slightly better time finishing third in their group before getting shutout by Fiji in the quarterfinals.
These are hardly reasons to be joyous. They certainly don’t give you license to be a dick on a long-haul flight. This is just as bad as when the 1998 USA Men’s Hockey team trashed their rooms after a poor showing at the Nagano Winter Olympics. In fact, it may be worse. There were no reports of toilets being crushed back then. Either way, Japanese people get the shaft.
Ultimately, the Australian Olympic teams trashing an airplane is the most Australian thing ever. It’s not entirely bad, however. At least they didn’t try to steal a pachinko machine which is something I witnessed a drunk Aussie do in Osaka.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie: An American view on Australian sports from best to worst
