By DPA,
Beijing : The International Olympic Committee said Saturday it has stripped Sweden’s Ara Abrahamian of his bronze medal in wrestling for unsporting behaviour.
Abrahamian, who came third in the Greco-Roman 84kg class, threw his bronze medal onto the floor during the presentation ceremony in protest at losing his semi-final match.
“I don’t care about this medal. I think the semi-final shows that (the ruling body) FILA does not play fair. I didn’t deserve to lose. The system is corrupt,” said the 2004 silver medallist Abrahamian.
“This will be my last match. I came here to win gold. And I didn’t. So I consider it a failure.”
The IOC said it had penalised him for violating the Games’ fair play rules. His bronze will not be awarded to anyone else, said Thomas Bach, head of the IOC’s disciplinary commission.