Aussie hockey athlete Tom Craig released with warning after cocaine arrest at 2024 Paris Olympic Games

An Australian hockey athlete says he is “truly sorry” after being barred from the Olympic village and closing ceremony for buying cocaine on a Paris street and fleeing police.

Australian hockey player Tom Craig attempted to run away from police trying to arrest him for buying a gram of cocaine on the streets of Paris before realising he could not escape pursuing officers.

The Kookaburras veteran has had his Olympic rights stripped from him, been banned from the athletes village and told he does not have the right to march in the closing ceremony.

And his position on the Kookaburras team will go through their own integrity framework as team chef de mission Anna Meares said she had sent out a missive to other Olympic sports warning them about their behaviour while celebrating Paris achievements.

Craig, who is a qualified solicitor, ignored a barrage of questions from Australian and French media after being released with “a probationary criminal warning for drug use” after being arrested for trying to buy a gram of cocaine following a team get together.

The 28-year-old had spent nearly 18 hours in custody after being arrested at midnight on Tuesday after trying to buy drugs.

Tom Craig, right, walks free from a Paris police station after being let off with a warning. Picture: Michael Klein

He and teammates had been at a family and friends celebration at the Hotel Maison in Montmartre in the 9th arrondissement after both his team and the Hockeyroos team of girlfriend Alice Arnott lost in the quarter finals.

Hockey’s high performance director Bernard Savage said when he finally met Craig in custody before he was released he was in a bad way.

“He was dishevelled. He was tired. He was hungry. He was stressed,” said Savage.

But 18 hours earlier as he and Kookaburras teammates celebrated, he was shocked to be caught trying to buy drugs, with Savage admitting he had attempted to flee police for a short period of time by running away.

Australian hockey player Tom Craig sits on the footpath in Paris after being arrested.

His teammates followed him to the French police station, with his family then contacting Australian lawyers before eventually orchestrating his release without conviction.

“My understanding is there was a commotion he may have tried to move away and that was what caused the commotion which is what the players recognised,” Savage said.

“So if it was that he did try to run away it was very, very short lived and very, very quickly brought under control by both the police and Tom realising that it was time to sit down,” he said.

He apologised for a “terrible mistake” and admitted to having “embarrassed you all” .

After a night in the police cells and with the case handled by the Narcotics Squad, Craig was delivered a clean, sponsor-free beige shirt to change into and some food by Australian Olympic team officials in the mid afternoon.

Kookaburras player Tom Craig with partner and Hockeyroos star Alice Arnott in Paris. Picture: Instagram

It wasn’t until the early evening of Wednesday that Craig, looking bleary eyed and shattered, was discharged from the Paris police headquarters with the criminal warning.

“I made a terrible mistake and I take full responsibility for my actions,” Craig told a large group of international media.

“My actions are my own and by no way reflect the values of my family, my teammates, my friends, my sport and the Australian Olympic team.

“ I’ve embarrassed you all. I’m truly sorry.”

Meares said her understanding was that Craig was attempting to buy drugs only for himself, even though he was with a collection of Kangaroos teammates.

“I cannot condone what Tom has done. He is a good person who made a bad decision. But there are consequences that come with decisions like this,” she said.

Tom Craig’s arrest was initially reported on X by a Europe 1 crime reporter. Picture: AFP

“Our team has been exemplary at these games. And his actions do not reflect the values of this team. Nor do they diminish this team’s performances.

“He has apologised, shown remorse, and he has owned up to his mistake, and we will support him if he needs help.

As a result, Tom will lose all of his remaining Olympic privileges. He has already moved out of the Olympic village and as it was my understanding, he was not attending the closing ceremony. If he was, he would not be able to attend in terms of our actions.”

Craig is with his family outside the village and is due to fly to Germany in coming weeks or days to play club hockey with a professional side.

Meares said it was a warning for all Olympic competitors, with 229 Olympians in the athletes village and 324 in total across AOC accommodation in France.

Originally published as Aussie hockey athlete Tom Craig released with warning after cocaine arrest at 2024 Paris Olympic Games