Swedish Wrestler Throws Medal After Anger With Judging

Ben Weixlmann by Senior Writer Written on August 14, 2008
Medal_feature
(Page 2 of 2)

At this point, you're most definitely asking yourself one question, "Why?"

According to Abrahamian, it's pretty simple: politics.

In a semifinal bout against eventual gold medal winner Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, Abrahamian thought he had clearly defeated the Azzurri wrestler.

The problem was, the judges had awarded the Italian with a victory, and all hell broke loose thereafter.

Abrahamian was steaming mad, as anyone would have been in that situation, and even had to be restrained by teammates so he didn't injure any of the judges.

So, within one angry spell, Abrahamian, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist has quit the sport of wrestling.

He doesn't want a bronze, because he came to Beijing for the gold.

I have absolute mixed emotions about this, seeing as he probably should have won the match, according to experts.

On the other hand, isn't there a level of respect that should be upheld at the Olympic games?

After all, there is a reason that China's flag was lowered and the five-ring symbol was raised. It's about all of the nations coming together for a worldwide experience.

From Abrahamian's side, it's pretty hard to relate, but one thing is for sure: if I had trained up to six days a week for the past four years to lose because of "politics," I'd be ticked off, too.

While I can't say definitively if my reaction would have been so severe, it makes you realize just how competitive some of these athletes are.

In what has been easily the best Olympic games in my lifetime of 20 years, this puts a rather dark cloud on an otherwise Phoenix-esque sun parade.

(0)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

29 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

3,040
reads

29
comments

written on August 14, 2008 Breaking News


CBS Sports Official Partner
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Getty Images.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Getty Images is strictly prohibited.