Swedish Wrestler Throws Away Bronze Medal In Olympic Hissy Fit
Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian throws away medal in Olympic hissy fit
While an Olympic medal would be seen by most athletes as the ultimate reward for a lifetime’s work, Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian was less than pleased with the bronze he won at the Chinese Agricultural University Gym.
By Andy Hooper and agencies - (Telegraph UK)
Abrahamian threw down his 84kg greco-roman bronze in disgust after his shot at gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as “politics”.
Abrahamian took the medal from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the mat before storming off.
The Swedish wrestler had to be restrained by team-mates earlier as a row erupted with judges over the decision in a semi-final bout with Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who went on to the take gold.
Abrhamian, who won silver at the Athens 2004 Games, shouted at the referee, then went over to confront judges, angrily throwing off the restraining arm of a team official.
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.
“It’s all politics,” said Swedish coach Leo Myllari.
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 quarter-finals. 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 favoured as finalists, failed to go through.
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I understand that some of the judges might be corrupt or whatever, but this is poor sportsmanship and further impresses into my mind what little bitches the Euros are. The time to take up an argument or protest against the judges would have been later, not a juvenile spectacle like that.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:23 amAnybody else note the guy’s name …
Don’t most Swede-type names end in “son”, or some such?
And aren’t Swede’s generally fair-haired, light-skinned, and … never mind.
Hey, I’m just sayin’ …
August 14th, 2008 at 9:57 amThat does it, I’m throwin’ out that crap my wife bought at IKEA.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:02 amIKEA = Liberal’s Wal-Mart
August 14th, 2008 at 12:06 pmBoo, they took it down.
Thats the idea. What freedom. Hide the bad stuff.
August 14th, 2008 at 1:38 pmYea, drill, that’s the first thing I noticed!
August 14th, 2008 at 4:26 pmI’m not sure why Abrahamian didn’t receive a harsher punishment. After all, this IS the Olympics competition. His behavior is unacceptable, even if his performance should’ve received gold. There’s more to sportsmanship than just “sports”.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:44 amI’m pretty sure he did receive a harsher punishment for it. I heard that they are going to strip him of his medal.
August 16th, 2008 at 8:22 pmCrazy Swedish Wrestler Was Actually Right!
OlympicsThe Sports HerniaAugust 25th. 2008, 10:30am
Everyone’s favorite Swedish wrestler, Ara Abrahamian, the guy who got disqualified from the Olympics and stripped of his bronze medal for throwing it to the ground as if Vince McMahon had just announced it was in fact a non-title bout, has been vindicated by the The Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The CAS has said in a ruling that the likable madman had good reason for going apeshit after losing to Andrea Minguzzi:
“CAS ruled that Abrahamian should have been given another round as a penalty awarded against him hadn’t been assessed until after the second round of his 84-kilogram bout had ended. Abrahamian as a result automatically lost the match. CAS also criticized the judges at the match for not listening to the Swedish protests.”
The judges from CAS went on to recommended that Fila change its regulations to allow for protests to be heard in time for the next Olympics.
Abrahamian reportedly celebrated this news by tackling several automobiles and then smashing a small house over his own head.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am