Swede Stripped of His Medal After His Angry Reaction
By JER?Ã? LONGMAN
Published: August 16, 2008
BEIJING – The International Olympic Committee stripped the bronze
medal Saturday from a Swedish wrestler who had complained about the
judging in his Greco-Roman competition and had discarded his medal
during the awards ceremony in protest.
The wrestler, Ara Abrahamian, was disqualified for violating the
spirit of fair play of the Games and had his athlete’s credential
revoked, according to the I.O.C.
A contentious penalty that cost him a chance to compete for a gold
medal in the middleweight division Thursday left Abrahamian
furious. News reports said that he had to be restrained from wrestling
officials after the incident. He later won a bronze medal in a
consolation match, but did not participate in the full medal ceremony.
The Associated Press said that Abrahamian dropped the bronze on the
mat as he walked away from the medal podium, while Bloomberg News said
that he put the medal on the floor. Abrahamian had finished second at
the 2004 Athens Olympics after a similarly disputed call.
In a disciplinary hearing Friday, Abrahamian said he had been a victim
of `blatant errors in judging.’ The I.O.C. accused him of violating
two rules of the Olympic Charter than ban demonstrations in official
Olympic areas and prohibit the showing of disrespect for other Olympic
athletes.
`The awards ceremony is a highly symbolic ritual,’ the I.O.C. said in
a statement. `Any disruption by any athlete, in particular a medalist,
is in itself an insult to the other athletes and to the Olympic
movement.’
Abrahamian had made `serious unsubstantiated allegations’ against
Greco-Roman wrestling’s international governing body, and had never
offered an apology for his actions during the ceremony, the
I.O.C. said.
If he chooses, Abrahamian could appeal the disqualification to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport.
This was not the first time that athletes had been punished for
protests during the Summer Games.
At the 1992 Barcelona Games, a weight lifter named Ibragim Samadov,
who was competing for the Unified Team of the former Soviet republics,
refused to have his bronze medal placed around his neck because he was
unhappy with his own performance. The medal was later revoked.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled from the 1968 Mexico City
Games after their glove-fisted salute during the awards ceremony for
the 200-meter race. The expulsions have since come under immense
criticism, and Smith and Carlos have drawn widespread praise for their
nonviolent protest of social and racial inequality.