Olympic wrestling wrapped up Sunday with a bizarre protest which saw an angry Mongolian coach strip off down to his underpants.
Russia’s Soslan Ramonov won the 65 kg gold but his triumph was overshadowed by a chaotic end to the bronze medal match as Mongolia raged over a decision against their wrestler Ganzorig Mandakhnaran.
Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan was awarded the fight after Mandakhnaran was penalised a crucial point in the last seconds for taunting and running away.
Two coaches tore off their clothes in protest, one removing his shirt and the other stripping down to his underwear.
“This was a protest. There was a problem with the refereeing,” said Mongolia coach Byambarenchin Bayaraa.
“Ganzorig won 7-6 and he lost because of this decision. This is the only time in history of wrestling with point penalty.
“The referees were not good. They only supported the Uzbek.”
Both coaches were eventually escorted out by security.
“Three million people in Mongolian waited for this bronze medal and now we have no medal,” added Bayaraa.
“A 100% of the stadium supported us.”
Ramonov dominated Azerbaijan’s Toghrul Asgarov in the gold medal match, needing barely more than two minutes to subdue his foe.
The other bronze went to Italian Frank Chamizo Marquez.
American Kyle Snyder added Olympic gold to his world title with a triumph over Azerbaijan’s Khetag Goziumov in the 97kg championship match, the concluding bout of the Games.
With the victory, the 20-year-old Snyder becomes the youngest US wrestler to claim an Olympic gold.
“It was good. That guy (Goziumov) beat me a month ago so any time you can avenge a loss, keep improving, it’s good stuff,” said Snyder.
Bronze went to Romania’s Albert Saritov and Uzbekistan’s Magomed Ibragimov.
(Feature image source: Reuters)