Wrestler Stripped of Medal Appeals
From the Associated Press:
The Swedish wrestler stripped of his bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics for protesting during the medal ceremony filed an appeal Thursday with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Ara Abrahamian, who was disqualified from the games after the protest, asked the top court in international sports to downgrade his punishment to a warning. CAS said it would rule within four months.
Abrahamian became incensed when a disputed penalty call decided his semifinal against Italy's Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to win the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 84-kilogram division.
During the medal ceremony, the Armenian-born Abrahamian took the bronze from his neck and angrily, dropped it on the mat as he walked away.
The International Olympic Committee executive board stripped him of his medal after ruling Abrahamian's actions violated the Olympic charter and was disrespectful toward other medalists.
Abrahamian already has received support from CAS in an Aug. 23 ruling after he lodged a complaint claiming that a penalty in the second round of the semifinal wasn't assessed until after the round had ended, that his coach had been denied a request for a video review and that the sport's international governing body had refused to consider a protest.
By
Tracee Hamilton
|
September 11, 2008; 9:23 AM ET
| Category:
Wrestling
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Posted by: M Street | September 11, 2008 10:18 AM
He did not throw a temper tantrum at the ceremony. He thanked the wrestler next to him and calmly walked to the center of the mat and laid down his medal.
Posted by: Lli | September 15, 2008 2:00 PM
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Maybe he should have thought about his actions before throwing a temper tantrum during the medal ceremony. Wronged or not by a bad call, he acted like a fool and gave up his medal. He shouldn't get it back.