Ever have one of those days where you feel you’ve been cheated, make a scene and therein completely destroy your reputation and career?
Well, Swedish Olympian Ara Abrahamian has.
During the medal ceremony at the Beijing Olympics for the men’s 84-kilogram Greco wrestling event, Abrahamian, who believes he received a rotten call in his semifinal match, walked from the podium, dropping his bronze medal on the floor.
For his outburst, which the International Olympic Committee considered a political demonstration, Abrahamian has been stripped of his medal and banned from competing in future Olympics Games.
Now the whiney little man is asking for his medal back.
Guess what, you moronic grumbler, you have to live with your actions just like the rest of us.
This onesie-wearing bawler shouldn’t get back his bronze or any other medal — unless it’s made of fecal matter from a diseased llama.
Granted, Abrahamian may have been right to argue the call. During his match against Italy’s Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to take the gold, a penalty very well may have been assessed after completion of the round. Also, his coach was denied a replay of the disputed call. Even the Court of Arbitration for Sport criticized the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles for not providing an avenue of appeal for Abrahamian.
Nonetheless, Abrahamian is no longer fighting the call made by the referees in the disputed match. Therefore, he has basically capitulated, saying that the bronze is legitimately his.
Well, guess what, pinhead: You had the damn thing around your neck! Once you give it up, it’s no longer yours.
Most of us learned this lesson in kindergarten. Remember the No-Take-Backs rule? … Perhaps you were too busy learning how to pin people.
And let’s not forget about Nazmi Avluca of Turkey, who received the bronze after Abrahamian’s disqualification. Is he supposed to give it back because Abrahamian has come to realize that he’s a nincompoop? He might not like that because, provided he isn’t a sore loser to the point of being demented, he’s probably happy to have an Olympic medal of any sort.
Changing gears …
When discussing the matter with colleagues, some people feel neither Abrahamian and Avluca should be wearing bronze.
While they agree Abrahamian shouldn’t get the bronze, they don’t think Avluca should get it either.
They argue since the competition was over at the point of disqualification, Avluca was undeniably the fourth best and, therefore, not worthy of a medal.
If that’s the case, why not take away the medal but keep Abrahamian listed as third best? Or just do away with the ranking/standing completely, so fourth is after second?
Obviously — besides being ridiculous for so many reasons — it would be highly confusing.
What if the gold medalist of an event did something stupid (other than using performance-enhancing drugs) and was disqualified? I don’t know about you, but I think it would pretty lame for a sport to go without an Olympic champion.
It doesn’t matter when, or for what reason a person is disqualified. If their name is stricken from the list of competitors, everyone else gets to move on up … like the Jeffersons … but in standings, not to a deluxe apartment in the sky.