Swedish Wrestler Refuses Medal

by Libby Pelham | More from this Blogger

14 Aug 2008 08:15 PM

You have to figure that most athletes who go to an Olympic Games have trained for it much of their life. Many put anything else in life on hold to train, train, and train. So I understand that emotions run high, whether you win or lose.

Roman wrestler Ara Abrahamian won a medal this week, something most people dream about, but he was none to happy about it. It seems the 33 year old Swede was none too happy with the judges in the 84k Greco-roman competition. Abrahamian won a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and I suppose the only step up from that is gold. However, he lost out on that this year in Beijing in a controversial decision in which Andrea Minguzzi of Italy was awarded the match win and eventually, the gold medal. Fans booed the decision and Abrahamian's teammates had to physically restrain him from the judges. As he left the arena, he hit an aluminum barricade with his fist.

Abrahamian begrudgingly stepped up on the bronze medalist podium, only after friends pleaded with him to take part in the award ceremony. During the ceremony, Abrahamian took the bronze medal off, stepped off the podium, and laid the medal on the mat before leaving in protest. Abrahamian said that he is quitting the sport now, stating that "This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure."

The International Olympic Committee was not happy with that gesture and said a disciplinary hearing will be held. The gold medal winner Minguzzi said the gesture spoiled his celebration. He said "Certainly one can always question decisions made in the course of refereeing, but in sports it is appropriate to show sportsmanship and accept the results."

So what happened to the refused medal? It was returned to the sport's governing body.

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Learn more about Libby Pelham

Libby Pelham is a work-at-home mom located in Jacksonville, NC. She has a beautiful little boy, Will, born in July of 2004.

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Michele Cheplic (37236) 16 Aug 2008 09:04 AM

Temper, temper. So much for humility and good sportsmanship.

Libby Pelham (12866) 16 Aug 2008 09:05 AM

Here's a followup to this story on Yahoo News: "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."

See, if you cannot play nicely with the other children, the IOC will slap your hand!