Regardless, the claim that the judges were corrupt only addresses their behaviour, not Abrahamian’s. The reality is that Abrahamian’s conduct at the medal ceremonies has not cast any doubts on the wrestling sport; instead, he’s just proven himself to be a sore loser with fans who are just not willing to demand he show better sportsmanship as others have when faced with a similar predicament.

The russian leader is now one of the top guys of FILA. FILA which has an italian leader, his cousin is swizz with italian ancestry and was also the ref who judged the semifinal. The CANADIAN point-ref disagreed with the decision to award the italian the point but was outvoted by the third ref.

The swedish team filed a protest, which was in their right. The refs refused to accept the protest and wouldn’t even have the situation reviewed by watching the tv footage which proved they were wrong, something which is REQUIRED by the rules when a protest is filed. They then started inventing new reasons why Abrahamian was given a penalty point, the head of FILA tried to convince the swedish team later at a metting that Abrahamian had been off the ring (he had an arm outside, which is allowed, whereas the italian had crawled fully out of the ring earlier in the round and didn’t receive any punishment).

The only crass behavior was from the ref judging the match, who laughed at Abrahamian and the swedish leader when they tried to protest, who sat there smug and happy having given italy a medal.

Abrahamian (who is from Armenia originally) even congratulated the turkish wrestler on the podium before stepping down and dropping his medal in the ring. An ARMENIAN congratulating a turkish wrestler, and you’re talking about crass behavior…

“but as I wrote above, it certainly doesn’t give one the press attention like Abrahamian’s conduct does, the clear reason why he behaved like that.”

To fight corruption in a sport that isn’t as widely popular as basketball you might have to actually gain the attention of people. As Abrahamian himself said “People need to ask why someone who has taken a bronzemedal at the olympics doesn’t want to accept it.”. Him not showing up would certainly not have gained any press attention.

Greco-Roman wrestling and FILA needs to clear up its act or it should be removed from the olympics altogether. This is far from the only incident of corruption and bribery in the sport.

But here’s the punchline for you Swedish fans supporting such pathetic behaviour from an Olympian – Sale and Pelletier although shocked and upset by this decision didn’t cause a scene or have a temper tantrum like your apparent hero. Instead, they went to the medal ceremonies and graciously accepted the medal and put their best face forward out of respect to the host country and to their fellow competitors. Watch that footage and see how they were cheered by the crowd in attendance and how the Russian team embraced them – everyone knew this was a wrong decision and yet, they were all impressed with what a class act Sale and Pelletier were. Later that year, they were awarded the gold medal to which the whole world cheered. Why? Simple – they saw two athletes take a situation that was out of their control, where they were robbed of their rightful achievement and yet handle it with dignity, respect and class.

There’s also the example of the United States’ mens’ basketball team from the 1972 Olympics. In the gold medal match against the former USSR, the team had to deal with so many screw-ups by the referees that it ultimately cost them the game and instead of getting the gold medal, they were awarded silver. Like Abrahamian, the US team filed a formal protest and the judges voted for their Cold War ally and the US protest was voted down. When the time came to hand out the awards, the US team decided not to show to accept the award to demonstrate their disgust over the whole affair. Again, another demonstration of class and respect for the institutions, but as I wrote above, it certainly doesn’t give one the press attention like Abrahamian’s conduct does, the clear reason why he behaved like that.

So, please spare me all this crap about the judging being corrupt as if Abrahamian is the only athlete and Sweden the only country to ever have to face such an issue. That frankly has no bearing or justification for such crass behaviour. I for one am delighted to know Abrahamian is quitting. The Olympics deserves better than to have someone like him competing with other athletes who know how to behave on the international stage and as a guest in someone else’s country.

The protest at the ceremony was not aimed at the other wrestlers, it was aimed towards the officials in FILA and it was Aras way to say goodbye to a corrupt sport. I don´t think Ara cares about his bronze and he couldn´t care less if they take it away.

He made a stand and pointed out the shortcomings of FILA. It´s easy to talk about sportmanship but when you take away the essence of the sport and let corrupt officials rule it´s easier to understand his actions.

Go Ara!

Regardless, the argument that he was cheated of a medal is irrelevant to his conduct at these Games. If I were Swedish, I’d be embarrassed that such a person was representing my nation on the international stage as I’d expect those representing my country to act with decorum and respect for others, something Abrahamian showed nothing of at today’s ceremonies.

Guess by the logic of Anders and Mikael, anyone who feels slighted should not be reprimanded for behaving so immaturely, but instead we should cheer it on.

Oh, what a world that would be.

Cheers