Wrestler throws medal, quits

[DSM4Life]

The quick video is here and is being pulled from all sites. Get it while its hot:
http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat...mber=296419189

By Douglas Hamilton

BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - 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.

(For more stories visit our multimedia website “Road to Beijing” at http://www.reuters.com/news/sports/2008olympics; and see our blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)

[NATE0406]

haha what a bitch. lol he didnt win plain and simple. lol

[SVTmuscle]

Wrestling isn't exactly a sport where there are "politics" involved. Way to represent your country asshat!

[J-Dogg]

While I don't think it's advised to throw away even a bronze metal, I admire his passion for the sport and desire to win.

His passion is what fueled him to compete with the best in the world, not somthing he should have just turned off.

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

what a bitch.

[SmittyTheOX]

I havnt seen the match, nor am I anything of an expert on Greco Roman Wrestling.

However IF he was cheated of at least the chance at the gold then good on him I say.

[Indymuscleguy]

You know, we all can't get the gold metal. Hell when I wrestled, if I won 1/2 my matches in hs and college, I was happy. To go to the Olympics...be grateful that you were one who worked hard and chosen to go. Accept your award or go home crying!

[WEBB]

Wrestling isn't exactly a sport where there are "politics" involved. Way to represent your country asshat!

Except teh fact it is based on points awarded by a referee...just like figure skating a few years ago...it could be corrupt you dont know that...anything that is based on one persons opinion is up for scutinizing and the guy felt like we was robbed on one call....

[J.S.N.]

Wrestling isn't exactly a sport where there are "politics" involved. Way to represent your country asshat!

he wasn't even representing his country. he was repping sweden for some reason.

[Amorphic]

Except teh fact it is based on points awarded by a referee...just like figure skating a few years ago...it could be corrupt you dont know that...anything that is based on one persons opinion is up for scutinizing and the guy felt like we was robbed on one call....

agreed. i would hardly be suprised if there was a lot of favoritism going on in lots of the events.

[NEMESIS RR]

how exactly was he treated unfairly?

[T_Own]

LOL. sounds like a real champ right there

[Flex-Appeal]

oympics are thought to be rigged by many. We should start a poll!

[Flex-Appeal]

you wouldn't catch an American doing that (I HOPE)

[Diary of a Mad-man]

you wouldn't catch an American doing that (I HOPE)

Wrestler: "I SPIT ON YOUR MEDAL!" ptoo!

Judge: "I PISS ON YOUR SPIT!!"

Wrestler: "I SHIT ON YOUR PISS!"

Judge: "I FART ON YOUR SHIT!"

Wrestler: "I LAUGH AT YOUR FART"

PAUSE..............

Both: "WE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN!!!!"

All while dancing in circles: "I PISS ON YOUR SPIT, I SHIT ON YOUR PISS, I FART ON YOUR SHIT, I LAUGH AT YOUR FART, WE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN, HEY!!!!!

I PISS ON YOUR SPIT, I SHIT ON YOUR PISS, I FART ON YOUR SHIT, I LAUGH AT YOUR FART, WE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN, HEY!!!!!

I PISS ON YOUR SPIT, I SHIT ON YOUR PISS, I FART ON YOUR SHIT, I LAUGH AT YOUR FART, WE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN, HEY!!!!!

I PISS ON YOUR SPIT, I SHIT ON YOUR PISS, I FART ON YOUR SHIT, I LAUGH AT YOUR FART, WE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN, HEY!!!!!"

[DSM4Life]

UPDATE:

Swedish wrestler stripped of bronze medal

BEIJING (AP)—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 behavior on the medal podium and during the medal ceremony was not appropriate,” IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. “His behavior 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 medalist, 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 medalist, 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 decision upheld its decision to disqualify him. He later was banned for life by the sport’s governing body.

AP Sports Writer Alan Robinson contributed to this report.

[Diary of a Mad-man]

When they say, North Korean Shooter, do they mean shotput?

I just laugh picturing a dude on roids shooting clay pigeons.

[KatsMeow]

What a BRAT

[CSAR]

He wins the Retard of the Day award.