{"id":2004060,"date":"2026-06-21T14:32:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2004060"},"modified":"2026-06-21T14:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:32:27","slug":"masters-bike-racer-and-triple-olympian-arrested-at-lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2004060","title":{"rendered":"Masters Bike Racer and Triple Olympian Arrested at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool"},"content":{"rendered":"
A 14 million dollar renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been all over the news lately due to spiraling costs, algae issues and a peeling blue liner, and now a cyclist and former Olympian is making headlines.<\/p>\n
Artemis Racing club masters racer David Hearn, 67, has been dragged into the controversy after being arrested by U.S Park Police officers Friday.<\/p>\n
Hearn, who competed in three Olympics in the canoe slalom event and was twice world champion, was detained on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property. He is due to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9.<\/p>\n
The 67 year old denies the charges.<\/p>\n
Hearn told the Washington Post that he was on a 52-mile bike ride and went to the Reflecting Pool to look at the refurbishments. He said that he saw some of the blue liner which had detached from the bottom of the pool and reached into the water to touch it.<\/p>\n
He was arrested moments later.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI didn\u2019t vandalize anything,\u201d Hearn told the Washington Post. \u201cI didn\u2019t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conservative journalist Emily Miller posted a video on X showing his detention.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Reflecting Pool. He grabbed the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae,\u201d Miller claimed.<\/p>\n
Hearn told the Washington Post that he never touched the hose, but acknowledged his bike tire may have.<\/p>\n
As for the liner, he denied the damage claims. \u201cI reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece. It was still attached to the bottom. I didn\u2019t remove anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump blames \u2018radical left\u2019<\/h2>\nReports suggest large amounts of the blue liner have torn. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
President Trump and his administration have been under the microscope over the $14 million renovations, with the White House having initially said it would cost $1.5 to $1.8 million.<\/p>\n
Following the posting of Miller\u2019s video, President Trump said on Truth Social that \u201cRadical Left Lunatics\u201d were to blame for \u201cVandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Washington Post stated that he has also accused ABC News\u2019 Jonathan Karl of \u201ctrying to rip the rubber off of the surface\u201d of the pool.<\/p>\n
Multiple media reports have stated that large areas of the liner have been ripping.<\/p>\n
Forbes has stated that the peeling occurred a few days after National Park workers poured containers of 12% hydrogen peroxide into the pool to try to get rid of the algae.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281921290.jpg”] Shane Stokes Published June 21, 2026 08:32AM A 14 million dollar renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been all over the news lately due to spiraling costs, algae issues and a peeling blue liner, and now a cyclist and former Olympian is making headlines. Artemis Racing club masters racer David […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2004060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2004060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004060\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2004060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2004060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2004060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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