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Swedish Wrestler Stripped Of Medal

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A Tribune wire report

Published: August 17, 2008

Updated: 08/17/2008 12:13 am

BEIJING - A Swedish wrestler was disqualified and stripped of his bronze medal Saturday for dropping the prize in protest after a disputed loss at the Olympics.

Ara Abrahamian was punished by the International Olympic Committee for violating the spirit of fair play during the medal ceremony, becoming the fourth athlete kicked out of the Games and bringing the number of medals removed to three.

Abrahamian became incensed when a disputed penalty call decided his semifinal match against Italian Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to win the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 84-kilogram division Thursday.

During the medal ceremony, the Armenian-born Abrahamian - who also lost a 2004 Olympic semifinal match on a disputed call - took the bronze from around his neck and angrily dropped it on the mat as he walked away. He did not take part in the rest of the medal ceremony.

To The Fighter In Red, A Few More Spoils

If you are betting on Olympic tae kwon do, you may do well to consider the color of the fighter's protective gear. A German study has found that referees consistently favor the fighter wearing red, although the researchers say they are not sure why.

In Olympic tae kwon do, one competitor wears a blue helmet and chest protector, the other red. The referee awards one point for delivering attacks to the chest protector with feet or fist, and two for a blow to the head, permitted only with the foot. Knocking down an opponent gains additional points, and points can be deducted for prohibited moves.

The study, published in the August issue of Psychological Science, involved 42 experienced tae kwon do referees. Researchers presented them with video excerpts from sparring rounds of five pairs of male competitors of similar abilities and asked them to referee the matches. In each video, one competitor wore red protective gear while the other wore blue. The referees awarded competitors wearing red an average of 13 percent more points.

Next, the researchers digitally reversed the colors of the protective gear, and showed the clips again. The number of points awarded increased for the competitor whose equipment was now changed to red and decreased for the one altered to appear blue - even though the referees were watching the same matches. Neither the sex of the referee (29 men were in the group) nor the order of presentation of the clips made any difference; only the color of the gear did.

Human Eye Can't Keep Up With Phelps' Finish

The eyes didn't have it. Lucky for Michael Phelps technology did.

Phelps got his seventh Olympic gold medal to match Mark Spitz's record haul, but it took some doing.

The finish was impossible to see with the naked eye, so close that video and timing reviews down to the ten-thousandth of a second were needed.

Anyone watching in the jammed-to-the-rafters Water Cube or on television thought Milorad Cavic of Serbia had pulled off a monumental upset Saturday morning, spoiling Phelps' chance at breaking Spitz's vaunted record of seven golds in a single games.

Not so, thanks to technology.

"The timing system says it all," Phelps said. "There hasn't really been an error in the timing system that I've ever heard of. The scoreboard said I got my hand on the wall first."

Serbia's head coach wasn't convinced Phelps touched first, so he filed a protest with FINA, swimming's world governing body.

Referee Ben Ekumbo of Kenya, a member of FINA's technical committee, dismissed any suggestion that FINA called Phelps the winner so he could tie Spitz's record and have a shot at winning an eighth gold in today's medley relay.

He said the Serbians were allowed to review the frame-by-frame footage, although the rules don't require it.

"They accepted the ruling because it was not the human eye making the judgment," Ekumbo said. "It was the footage."

Ekumbo confirmed Omega's electronic timing system also was in "perfect order," having been tested as usual before each competition. Large touchpads, the width of each lane and extending down into water, stop the clock when triggered by a swimmer's touch - in this case Phelps' arms crashing into the wall.

"It was very clear that the Serbian swimmer touched second after Michael Phelps," Ekumbo said. "One was stroking Phelps and one was gliding Cavic."

2 Runners Test Positive For Banned Substances

Bulgarian middle-distance runner Daniela Yordanova has tested positive for testosterone and will not compete at the Olympics.

Team spokesman Todor Shabanski said the 1,500-meter runner was on the verge of flying to Beijing but stayed behind after the result became known.

The 32-year-old Yordanova was fifth in the 1,500 at the 2004 Athens Games and was the bronze medalist at the 2006 European Championships.

In addition, a Greek TV station says Fani Halkia, who won gold in the women's 400-meter hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, has tested positive for a banned substance.

U.S. Track Athletes Hit With Stomach Bug

Bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan wasn't the only American track athlete who got sick at the team's pre-Olympic training camp in Dalian.

Flanagan said she had bad stomach cramps earlier this week that she thought might be food poisoning, but she wasn't sure. U.S. Olympic Committee officials said the illness affecting a handful of athletes was a stomach virus unrelated to food.

"It was not pretty for about 48 hours," Flanagan said.

She recovered and pulled a mild upset in the 10,000-meter final Friday, setting an American record at 30 minutes, 22.22 seconds to finish third.

Dee Dee Trotter said she and several of her roommates - runners Hazel Clark, Torri Edwards and Angela Williams - all had illnesses of some degree, but that everyone was feeling better by the time they arrived in Beijing.

"We all had at least one day where we weren't feeling all that well," Trotter said. "I think it's maybe a combination of people brushing their teeth with the water, the long travel, just a bunch of things."

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