PARIS (AP) — A French canoe and kayak coach working on Paris Olympics was jailed after punching 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 did not coach French teams at the Olympics, but hosted public service events at the canoe and kayak site in Vaires-sur-Marne east of Paris.

The incident occurred during the night between Monday and Tuesday in eastern Paris and a preliminary investigation was launched, the prosecutor’s office in Paris says. No other details have been 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 the French team until last year’s world championships but was not selected to coach during the Olympics, Royé said. Instead, the federation hired Berge to work in the Olympic arena to encourage public interest in the sport via virtual kayaking and children’s events.

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

___

Follow AP’s Olympic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games