BORDEAUX: The world 800 metres champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse said the man attacked him has himself filed a complaint that the athlete provoked him, his lawyer Arnaud Dupin said Wednesday.
Bosse, 25, was victim of a late night attack in a casino car park in his one-time training base of Gujan-Mestras in southwestern France that left him with "multiple facial fractures" and 18 days of sick leave.
French police arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with the assault, which forced Bosse to put an early end to his season.
But the alleged aggressor, while not denying he punched Bosse, has lodged a complaint saying that the altercation started when the athlete threw a beer can at his head, which he managed to deflect with his arm - that was left bruised.
"The trigger was the beer can being thrown," said lawyer Dupin, adding he didn't know why Bosse "had targeted my client".