Wrestler's punishment: A rights violation

And you thought the Chinese government was repressive.

The International Olympic Committee has decided it has the right to control the way medal winners treat their medals.

Remember Ara Abrahamian, the Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler who felt he should not have lost his semifinal match against Italy's Andrea Minguzzi?

Remember that Abrahamian was so upset, he removed his bronze medal during the medal ceremony, walked off the podium and dropped it in the center of the mat before disappearing?

"I didn’t deserve to lose; the system is corrupt," said Abrahamian afterward. "I don't care about this medal."

Well, the IOC didn't like his attitude, and decided he should be stripped of that medal.

In a decision announced Saturday, the IOC's executive board ruled that his treatment of the medal was a political demonstration and disrespectful to the other athletes.

The haughty board then threw him out of the Olympics and stripped him of his medal.

We knew the IOC had become chummy with the Chinese, but this is ridiculous.

In the sort of free societies that the IOC claims it supports, medal winners should be able to do whatever they want with their medal.

They should be able to sell it, frame it, play Frisbee with it. Who cares?

Heck, a young Cassius Clay once threw his medal into the Ohio River, and he didn't turn out too badly.

The IOC has no right to strip Abrahamian of his medal. He could have eaten it on the stand and they still shouldn't have stripped him of it.

This is the sort of thing that would happen only in China, where the IOC is currently making billions at the expense of human rights.... Oh, wait, now we understand.

-- Bill Plaschke

Photo (top): The bronze medal of Greco-Roman wrestler Ara Abrahamian lies on the competition mat in protest of the result. The Swede, who won the silver in the Athens Olympics, grudgingly climbed the podium but walked off in a huff after receiving his prize, which he then left behind. Credit: Peter Parks / AFP/Getty Images

Photo (inset): Ara Abrahamian immediately steps off the podium after receiving the bronze medal. Credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

Comments

[Hisham Attir]

To the writer of this article....
Yes, for the atheletes should decide the resting place of their medals.
No, for connecting everything with human rights and china.
The U.S. goverment is no different to any other goverment when it comes to its interests, so please drop the act.

Sorry for my English

[PB]

I am afraid I do not agree. Between his statements and gross actions Mr. Abrahamian has embarrassed himself and his country. Eating the medal or for that fact doing anything with the medal, he does have as you state that freedom because he won it. The diplay after the losing match and especially at the medal ceremony do not represent the nature of an Olympic athelete or the Olympic Games.
As in the case of the Serbian protest and emotional reaction to such a close contest, they exhibited the "heat of battle" and the grace of defeat. Both athlete and coach a class act. The wrestler in an act of desperation in losing was very much the opposite and I feel a good riddance to what is turning out to be a wonderful Olympics.
PB

[Jim]

This is typical fascism from an organization that believes it is the supreme ruler of all things athletic. There is no place in the world that offers the freedom found in the United States, hence athletes and citizens could throw a medal in the river or burn the country flag for that matter. The athlete may be upset but he still won 3rd place and what he does with the reward is no one's business. His coach should have scooped it up so when the guy calms down he could hang it on the wall or dispose of it then.

[Chris W]

Your author misses the point. It isn't the "medal" but the disrespect to the judges and the fellow competitors. Obviously, it is the bad sportsmenship that deserves this punishment. His tantrum diminished the moment for the winners. What the heck does the author mean tossing out the really silly comment about the IOC being chummy with the Chinese. Is that cheap shot the kind of thing that belongs in your paper?

[mittllo]

Agreed.Too harsh.

[olympics not worthy]

The Beijing Olympics: Fake fireworks, fake singer, fake freedom. The Olympics are about money and power and we shouldn't honor them by watching them. Let the corporations and governments spend billions and let's have them waste their money by spending our time away from the TV while the games are on. The games should go in the trash can of history. A bad history of Olympic memories that include Hitler, boycotts, assassins, and lots of bad sports. Enough already. Let's not watch any more of them, now or in the future.

[Guy Macher]

The IOC has always been as corrupt as the Useless Nations but since when do Swedes have political opinions? This man is no Swede!

[M. Kaufman]

Are you serious, you really think that taking off the medal during the ceremony, then saying that the system is corrupt is not disrespectful? He got stripped of the medal because he did it during the ceremony. There are times to protest and times to hold your tongue, and this case was the latter.

Had he done the smart and correct thing he would of filed a grievance and done it thru proper channels. Then if there was any type of corruption it would have been found out.

What he did was act like a little 2 year old and get punished for it. So he thought he won, so do all athletes that get the bronze and silver, they think they should have one as well.

I am personally glad they took his metal away because that type of behavior should not be allowed on any type of stage.

[Plintoff]

You biased ignorant fool.

Just cause it's China so you decide to attack them.

I've been to China many times, it's an awesome place and it's just stupid ignorant Western media like you guys write all this crap.

You are a disgrace to journalism.

[evelyn]

IOC is overreaching. That is shame. What's next - jail time? The wrestler won the medal, it was not a merit of good behavior. Shame on IOC

[Mé]

I don't think Ara Abrahamian was disqualified because he supposedly made a political statement or showed disrespect to his fellow athletes. Ara Abrahamian was disqualifed because he embarrassed the IOC.

[John Wong]

This is yet another cheap shot to the Chinese and the Olympics by the same author within a week. If he gets his facts straight, this is not the first time the Olympics has stripped off the medal from someone, who demonstrated unsportsmanlike conduct, and without respect for the spirit of the Olympics. If the article was written purely as a support of the athlete, then it has made its point, but tagging on and discrediting the Olympics and the Chinese, based on one's bias opinion, is absolutely unnecessary.

[bob]

Now that the Olympics are being held in Beijing, the IOC has turned into a Hitlerian dictatorship. Here we have a games filled with underage gymnasts from the host country, a general cloud of suspicion of rampant drugs and ineffective drug testing, a host country using an iron fist to authoritatively and militarily quell all forms of protest, the IOC turns around to do the same thing.

Dissent and disagreement are part and parcel of civil society, including sport. But, no, we can't have that. An athlete is not even free to do as he pleases with a medal he won. Abrahamian was well within his rights to reject the medal and to protest the faulty and non-transparent judging process. The IOC just stripped him of the medal that he had already rejected. The IOC also barred from the Beijing olympics and from future competitions.

Abrahamian is not the only one who thinks that FILA and the sport of wrestling is rife with corruption. Kudos to Abrahamian for refusing to take it lying down and for retaliating against the governing body in the biggest stage for the whole world to see. It is the sport of wrestling and their faulty and non-transparent judging process that needs to be investigated and revamped, not athletes who speak their minds and act according to the courage of their convictions.

I challenge IOC and FILA to list the scores that each judge gave in the disputed match, a justification for those scores, and a summary of what the, say, top 10 or 20 retired non-partisan wrestlers (who do not have an axe to grind) in the sport think about the scoring, esp. the disputed calls.

Talk about over-reaction to a little bit of dissent. In twisting their panties to a knot, the IOC and FILA have shown that they are worse than Hitler and Stalin in handling those who disagree with them. Soon, they plan to issue a decree calling for his head, and awarding a large sum of money to anyone who will bring him to the IOC military panel of justice, dead or alive. The fact that the Olympics are being held in Beijing has brought out the ugly military face of the IOC. It is the militaristic face of IOC that should be banned from the hearts and minds of people.

[fazsha]

I think the wrestler can do whatever he wants and the IOC can do what it wants. The IOC is not a country, it is a private organization and can set its own rules. Part of freedom is for organizations' rights to set their own standards, and if you don't like it, don't participate.

[Nick]

I find what he did in poor taste, but this may be a step too far.

I will agree that the this year's Olypmics seems at times to be far from perfect and that Ara Abrahamian is completely within his right to complain if he feels that he's been slighted. Being a 'poor loser' over the whole thing is childish, unprofessional and otherwise uncalled for. But for the IOC to strip the medal and expel him may be just as bad.

Of course, there are other examples of unsportsmanlike conduct that the IOC could look at both during the games and before, but chances are nothing will be done about it.

I didn't see the matches myself, so I can't really say one way or the other whether his claim has any merit. I do know that the scoring and judging has been inconsistent in some events. Even to an untrained eye, scores haven't seemed to always be right, something which the people who actually know about what's going on have echoed. Point is, nothing's perfect, including the Olympics. THE IOC can rule over certain things with an iron fist, but it cannot micromanage every single aspect, big or small.

Ara's disrespect should not go without some action. Perhaps stripping him of the bronze may be in order - he didn't even want it anyway - but is expulsion necessary too?

[John Winchester]

I totally agree with you - the IOC, the gymnastics organization - they have all evolved into little fascist organizations bent on making money, period. There is no honor to these olympic games in occupied China. The "atheletes" are professional entertainors like foot ball/basketball stars. China is cheating by using underage girls and the now the IOC is doing what large fascist corporations in America do everyday: get rid of anyone who complains or causes any kind of disturbance in the delicate mass brainwashing that they strive so hard to maintain: the illusion of legitimacy. I want nothing to do with the olympics and I think more people should take that attitude.

[Josh Ross]

what a ignorant article. Obviously, the writer has no grasp of sportmanship or good manners. Had on of my children behaved the way this wrestler did they would have been severly punished. At some point we all need to learn that life is not always fair. Reguardless of the IOC motives, the athlete is not worthy to wear an olympic metal.

[Beau]

They are both wrong. The Swedish wrestler for his deplorable conduct, and single minded foucus on winning, and his disrespect for his fellow athletes. The IOC, for saying this amounted to a "political statement" and heavy handed approach. The thing is, everyone else care *except* the two of them. As far as the IOC is concerned, it has taken care of the problem. AS far as the wrestler is concerned, he didn't want the medal, so why should he care? What I think everyone needs to realize is that participating in the Olympics is not a right, it is a priviledge. If you disrespect the Olympics itself and the other athletes, by assuming you have already won the gold, you deserve to get punted.

[olivio]

an ignorant article. the wrestler deserved his punishment. he disrespected the spritit of the games, embarassed his country, etc. the preponderance of viewpoints like this on the tail of the series of stupid decisions at all levels of govt in business and in journalism are disturbing indicators of our possible decline as a society. i hope our best years are not behind us.

[Read The Contract]

Two seconds worth of journalism would have revealed the fact that the participants have signed a code of conduct. That code of conduct is a contract and this athlete violated that contract and suffered the consequences. Imagine the kind of vicious, fascist organization that would enforce a contract! It's outrageous!

[Simple Games]

I wouldn't say could only happen in China, as the last disqualification, for a lesser act of bronze rejection (not wearing it around the neck) resulted in a disqualification in the Spain olympics (this long before the recent socialist, terror-supporting regime of Spain).

Loud-mouthed(as heard on ESPN) sports writers should stay out of politics and stick to sports, where for some reason people love them. You're no Steve Largent or Steve Sax. Not even at the low levels of Bill Bradley or Jesse Ventura. Call the games.

suspension=sports
wrestling governing body corruption=sports
link between wrestling governing body, suspension, and chinese repression=politics

[john kitchen]

Accusing China and the IOC of suppressing human rights and free speech with the actions of the Swedish Bronze medal winner is quite hypocritical to say by an American. If memory serves me correctly, the United States is far from a prestigious embodiment of human rights considering they are responsible for enslaving and prejudicing Africans for some 150 plus years. If you want to judge others at that standard, then look in the mirror first at your own past before you decide to make such a comment.

[skippy]

he did nothing illegal in earning the medal hence the Olympic committee’s compelling him to act in a way they deem appropriate, that he respect the others at the expense of expressing his views is wrong, imo of course.
folks that think the Olympic committee is correct are collectivists.
imo there isn't any common ground between these world views ~ supporters of individual rights and supporters of the greater good.
to my eyes this is much like the separation of church and state sides of the arguments, or the separation of economics and state... there sometimes are no bridges in polar opposite views.
I support the individual athlete not the greater good group think supporting the concerns of the other athletes at the expense of the individual expressing his views.
It is an intellectual difference, one side willing to sacrifice individual freedom for the greater good, the other defending individual rights shall not be infringed.
that is the way I see this and the filter I use in seeing my world and how others see this world.

[skippy]

he did nothing illegal in earning the medal hence the Olympic committee’s compelling him to act in a way they deem appropriate, that he respect the others at the expense of expressing his views is wrong, imo of course.
folks that think the Olympic committee is correct are collectivists.
imo there isn't any common ground between these world views ~ supporters of individual rights and supporters of the greater good.
to my eyes this is much like the separation of church and state sides of the arguments, or the separation of economics and state... there sometimes are no bridges in polar opposite views.
I support the individual athlete not the greater good group think supporting the concerns of the other athletes at the expense of the individual expressing his views.
It is an intellectual difference, one side willing to sacrifice individual freedom for the greater good, the other defending individual rights shall not be infringed.
that is the way I see this and the filter I use in seeing my world and how others see this world.

[jfayiii]

To John Kitchen:

Prejudicing Africans is a sport in the rest of the western world compared to the US, we just don't hide it; indeed we advertise it. We're about to elect our first black president and, despite the media, most rank and file people are 'blah' about his race. Researching black PMs of Britain, Canada, France, Turkish Chancellors of Germany ... 0. And getting right down to it, predominently, African blacks sold us (and other countries!) the slaves, so slavery is an indictment of foul human nature, not specific to any one color or nation.

Regarding free speech: take note of where your comment has been posted, and LEFT UP; that's right a US news organization's event blog.

A few smudges on a fairly clean mirror are a lot easier to pick out than any one smudge on a mirror that is competely filthy. I take the U.S. and the warts. You can have the alternative and the whole toad.