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Angry Olympic wrestler throws away medal

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Every Breaking Wave

Every Breaking Wave

Religion is a club
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Reuters said:
Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian threw down his greco-roman bronze medal in protest on Thursday after his bid for Olympic gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as “politics.”

Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the wrestling mat then walked off.

“I don’t care about this medal. I wanted gold,” he said.

A bitter Abrahamian, silver medalist at Athens 2004 who had high hopes of top honors in the 84kg competition in Beijing, announced he was quitting the sport.

“This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure,” he said.

The Swedish wrestler had to be restrained by teammates earlier when a row erupted with judges over the decision in a semifinal bout at the Chinese Agricultural University Gym with Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who went on the take gold.

Abrahamian shouted at the referee and judges then went over to their seats to speak to them up close. He angrily threw off the restraining arm of a team official then turned and left.

Swedish fans booed loudly as the judges filed out of the arena. Abrahamian said nothing to waiting reporters but whacked an aluminium barricade with his fist as he left the hall.

Abrahamian later said he believed his loss to the eventual gold medalist Minguzzi was “totally unjustified.” The wrestler said his friends “called me just 20 minutes before the (bronze) competition, begging me to compete.”

“I decided that I had come this far and didn’t want to let them down, so I wrestled,” he said.

Swedish coach Leo Myllari said: “It’s all politics.”

Myllari did not say if he intended to lodge a formal protest over the decision by referee Jean-Marc Petoud of Switzerland, judge Lee Ronald Mackay of Canada, and mat chairman Guillermo Orestes Molina of Cuba.

Other favourites went out in the semi-finals or earlier.

Athens 96kg gold medallist Karam Gaber of Egypt failed to make it to the quarterfinals. Aleksey Mishin of Russia, who took Athens gold in the 84kg class, was beaten by Minguzzi. Ramaz Nozazde of Georgia, who took silver in Athens, succumbed to Marek Svec of the Czech Republic, still fighting at age 35. Svec then lost to Russia’s European champion Aslanbek Kushtov, who caught him with a spectacular fall.

In the heavyweight 120kg class, Armenia’s Yuri Patrikeev and Dremiel Byers of the United States, both favored as finalists, failed to go through.
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Lil Brother said:
Great way to demonstrate one's level of maturity right there.
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Quoted for truth. What is this guy, a five year-old? He won a bronze medal at the Olympics -- that's more than everyone but two people in the world can say.
 
What's bad is he doesn't just put himself to shame, but the country he represents.
 
I can understand why he was angry, however I would have hoped that he would have had a tad more self restraint. I can understand why he reacted the way he did, but it doesn't paint such a good picture for the event.
 
Christ, talk about a sore loser and utter lack of sportsmanship!

As I would say, be happy with what you got.
 
I thought I acted badly when I lose... but this is horrible maturity.
 
This is the kind of crap I'd expect to see in one of those sportsmanship anime, but to see a professional do it is just...retarded.

Sweden must be very mortified right now.
 
^ Theyd have to make metal below bronze for something to go to Canada =p but seriously this was very child like but I wonder if Swedens Olympic Commitee will ever send him to the Olmypics again.
 
hitman528 said:
^ Theyd have to make metal below bronze for something to go to Canada =p but seriously this was very child like but I wonder if Swedens Olympic Commitee will ever send him to the Olmypics again.
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For the sake of their country's pride, I hope not. But didn't the guy say he was never going to compete again anyway? He's just a spoiled little brat, IMO
 
Boy, not only is that childish, but also greedy.Heck, I would be thrilled if I even got to compete in the Olympics, let alone win a medal.

hitman528 said:
^ Theyd have to make metal below bronze for something to go to Canada =p but seriously this was very child like but I wonder if Swedens Olympic Commitee will ever send him to the Olmypics again.
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I wouldn't, if it were up to me.
 
Outrage said:
No, give it to Canada ;-;
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We've got three now.

Anyways, the guy was disqualified for his conduct.

CBC.ca said:
A Swedish wrestler was disqualified and stripped of his bronze medal Saturday for dropping the prize in protest after a disputed loss at the Beijing Olympics.

Ara Abrahamian was punished by the International Olympic Committee for violating the spirit of fair play during the medal ceremony, becoming the fourth athlete kicked out of the games and bringing the number of medals removed to three.

Abrahamian became incensed when a disputed penalty call decided his semifinal match against Italian Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to win the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 84-kilogram division Thursday.

During the medal ceremony, the Armenian-born Abrahamian — who also lost a 2004 Olympic semifinal match on a disputed call — took the bronze from around his neck and, angrily, dropped it on the mat as he walked away. He did not take part in the rest of the medal ceremony.

The IOC executive board ruled Abrahamian's actions amounted to a political demonstration and a mark of disrespect to his fellow athletes.

"It was felt that his behaviour on the medal podium and during the medal ceremony was not appropriate," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. "His behaviour was not in the Olympic spirit of respect for his fellow athletes. Whatever grievances you may have, this was not the way to go about it."

The IOC said no athlete will receive Abrahamian's medal because his disqualification was not connected to the competition itself, meaning there will be only one bronze medallist, Nazmi Avluca of Turkey. Normally, there are two at each weight class.

The 28-year-old Abrahamian had to be restrained from going after matside officials following his loss to Minguzzi. He stormed away from the area where interviews are conducted and slammed a door to the dressing rooms so hard it shook an entire wall. He weighed whether to skip the bronze medal match, only to have friends talk him into competing.

The IOC said Abrahamian violated two rules of the Olympic charter, one which bans any sort of demonstrations and another which demands respect for all Olympic athletes.

"The awards ceremony is a highly symbolic ritual, acknowledged as such by all athletes and other participants," the IOC said. "Any disruption by any athlete, in particular a medallist, is in itself an insult to the other athletes and to the Olympic movement. It is also contrary to the spirit of fair play."

Abrahamian never expressed regret or offered an apology, the IOC said. The international wrestling federation was asked to consider any further sanctions against the two-time world champion.

His medal was the third stripped at the Beijing Games so far.

On Friday, North Korean shooter Kim Jong Su had his silver and bronze medals taken away after failing a doping test. Also expelled for doping violations have been Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno and Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do.

Abrahamian's case is not the first of its kind.

A weightlifter at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was stripped of his bronze medal after rejecting it during the medal ceremony. Ibragim Samadov, competing in the light heavyweight category for the Unified Team of the former Soviet Union, was upset with his performance and refused to have the medal placed around his neck and only accepted it in his hand. He then put it down and walked off.

Samadov later apologized, but the IOC upheld its decision to disqualify him. He later was banned for life by the sport's governing body.
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