Surprise, Surprise: Swedish Wrestler Stripped of Bronze Medal
August 16, 2008 by Jodie Lynn Boduch
Filed under Sports Rumors
We haven’t been this not-at-all shocked since Britney Spears and Kevin Federline ended their blissful union of holy matrimony. (Why does it feel almost sacrilegious to utter those two crazy lovebirds and “holy matrimony” in the same sentence?)
Moving on: Ara Abrahamian, the tantrum-throwing Swedish wrestler who acted worse than a roomful of two-year olds in dire need of a nap on the Olympic medal stand, has been stripped of his bronze medal.
Even though we’re pretty sure Abrahamian himself doesn’t give a hoot, we’re happy to see that the IOC said fahgeddaboutit.
White-Out over your name in the record books and embarrassing behavior that will live on Olympic lowlight reels for years to come? You stay classy, Ara Abrahamian.
Sorry, but I’m shocked at your idiocy. I guess people revel in ignorance. Let’s look at the facts, shall we?
1) Pelle Svensson, former member of the FILA board of for 16 years, and former President of Fila’s Disciplinary Committee, left his position when his proposal was completely ignored by the FILA board. His proposal? That the referees should be selected randomly just before for each match. Why? So that they cannot be bribed.
2) The President of the Italian Wrestling association is M Pellicone. He is also vice president of Fila. His best friend, the italoswiss R Martinetti, is president of Fila. Together these two ASSIGNED the referees for the match.
3) Jean-Marc Petoud, the main referee, is cousin with Martinetti.
4) The swedish team PROTESTED against the assignment of referee already in good time BEFORE THE MATCH started, but was left unheard.
5) When “randomly” selecting which wrestler should in parterre, the referees glance into the bag before picking up the ball.
6) Minguzzi was clearly in the blue zone early in the match but no warning was made. Abrahamian had ONE hand in the blue zone, which is normally not penalized.
7) At that point the referee first awards Abrahamian with a point. But after a few moments, AFTER the round, assigns the point and the match to Minguzzi.
8) The referees refused to review the recording of the incidences, despite the fact that they would have come to another conclusion if they had! Why?
Pierre de Coubertin said
The important thing is not to win, but to take part.
Take part in WHAT, exactly??
Why did the referee in the semi final suddenly decide to give Minguzzi an extra point AFTER the second period had ended?
Why did Fila refuse to even read the swedish protest?
Why did the referee laugh in Abrahamians face after the match?
In my opinion Ara Abrahamian did the only thing he could do if he wants to open the eyes of the world for how corrupted Fila is! Honestly, would you even have noticed if he would just have complained about it? -I doubt it.
Before you blog, try to look up the facts first. It makes you seem like the two year old, not Ara
No dearth of facts here, unless the link to the original story on Yahoo doesn’t suffice. The only fact of concern to us is Ara’s utter lack of sportsmanship–which, when you’re a world-class athlete, is inexcusable.
Was throwing a tantrum the only feasible response to the situation or maybe, just maybe, are there classier ways to respond when one gets the short end of the stick?
Oh, and two more things: 1) You’re guestimate of our age is off by 29 years and 2) this blog is all in good fun. Or it’s supposed to be, anyway.
Sorry son, you got it all wrong. Read comment 1 oncergain, and you’ll see it all, except for spelling one thing out blatantly: that the throwdown of the medal was a protest against the corruption in the international wrestling federation (FILA). To call that a disgrace is a digrace.
The man stands tall. Had anything, any attention at all, been given to this in case e.g. he would’ve been a no-show at the ceremony? As one of two bronze medalists? He is a hero, and hopefully the corruption-infested stinking “federation” will come tumbling down, and it will in that case be the biggest achievement of Ara’s career. No doubt about it.
No. This kind of childish behavior starts young. You know he’s the type of kid who when he loses at a game, flips the board over and stalks of, while accusing the other player of cheating. Also, his trainer must be pissed. All those years of work for nothing.
First of all, Ara did NOT “Throw the medal down”. He calmly laid it to rest just after congratulating the Gold Medalist, nor did he “Storm off the stage”.
Personally, I think he did an admirable job of refusing a worthless medal. Worthless, not because it is Bronze, worthless because of the corrupt system that controls their (the Medals) distribution. Any, actually, ALL disrespectful actions around this event are explicitly owned by FILA. There is a time and place for everything and Ara chose both appropriately.
I viewed the match in question several times, and the incident at 1:30 of the 2nd period several more times, Ara is absolutely vindicated. Even the video feed censorship that was taking place as I replayed the match over and over couldn’t hide the personal agenda of the ref. It is the IOC and FILA that should be stripped, tarred, and feathered.
playjojo: His trainer is ROYALLY pissed off.. at the corrupt FILA dingbats.
Peacefully protesting against a corrupt system is childish.
You should atleast start a war about it, or something.