Mongolian strip-off steals show
Print Edition
KYLE Snyder of the United States won the last wrestling gold medal of the Rio Olympics on Sunday but Mongolia provided the most vivid drama when two of its coaches stripped off in protest at their man’s defeat in an earlier bout.
Snyder, 20, fought a cagey, low-scoring contest in the 97-kilogram category against Azerbaijan’s Khetag Goziumov, hanging in to defend his 2-1 lead as his opponent pressed hard in the closing seconds in a bid to lift and throw him.
Azerbaijan was also forced to settle for silver in the earlier 65kg final, where Russia’s Soslan Rakhmonov defeated Toghrul Asgarov.
It took the Russian male wrestlers’ total to four golds, two ahead of Cuba, to confirm their preeminence in what wrestlers say is one of the oldest sports known to mankind.
With an arcane points system based on immobilizing the opponent on the mat or forcing him out of the ring, wrestling can be a challenge for the uninitiated.
The sport was nearly ejected from the 2020 Games in Tokyo on the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee’s executive board, but the IOC later granted it a reprieve.
There was certainly plenty of excitement for the crowd on Sunday, but the most intense moment did not involve actual wrestling.
Two Mongolian coaches stripped off and hurled their shoes in protest after their man, Mandakhnaran Ganzorig, was denied victory for running away from his Uzbek opponent in the dying seconds of their 65kg bronze medal contest.
Ganzorig, leading Ikhtiyor Navruzov 7-6, taunted him by dancing around in the last 18 seconds and was penalized for ‘fleeing the hold’ or evading contact, which caused him to lose 7-8.
Both coaches tore off their shirts and flung down their shoes in fury in front of the judges, with one stripping down to his trunks.
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