Mongolia wrestling coaches strip in protest of bronze medal loss
In protest of their wrestler losing in the bronze medal match at Rio 2016, Mongolia’s coaches stripped off their clothes and held the mat hostage
Mandakhnaran Ganzorig of Mongolia was wrestling in the 2016 Rio Olympics Men’s Freestyle 65 kg bronze medal match on Sunday. His opponent was Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan in this match. However, things took a turn for the bizarre in the after-effects of their match—in a way that no one feasibly saw coming.
Ikhityor came under criticism from many people watching the match for how he handled the final minute. After getting the 8-7 lead, he wrestled what people were calling a “shady” rest of the bout so to secure the bronze medal. So when the match ended and the Uzbek athlete had captured his medal over Mongolia’s Ganzorig, the Mongolia wrestling coaches were less than pleased.
However, they just happened to show it in the hands-down strangest way possible.
It all started when, in protest of the result of the match, one of the head coaches for Mongolia took off his shirt because he didn’t like the way things went down:
This is something: A Mongolian coach ripped off his shirt and shoes after an incredibly shady last-minute decision gave bronze to an Uzbek.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) August 21, 2016
As if that wasn’t enough of a protest, the other coach out with Ganzorig took his shirt off as well. But then he decided to one-up the other coach, taking off his pants and standing on the mat in his underwear:
And now the other Mongolian coach took his pants off. They are refusing to leave the mat. This is incredible.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) August 21, 2016
Thankfully, someone was wise enough to snap a picture of the scene that was just wholly incredible, which you can see on Twitter by clicking here. Even better, there’s also video of the entire crazy scene, which can be seen here.
Obviously, this won over the crowd watching the wrestling in Rio. They began to encourage the coaches and started chanting Mongolia to voice their support:
The crowd is chanting, "Mon-go-lia!" as both coaches refuse to leave the mat, one shirtless and one stripped to his underwear.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) August 21, 2016
The ending was a little less than poetic. Rather than officials rewarding such clothes-less protests, the coaches were instead escorted out of the arena by Brazilian police. And yes, the one without pants did put those back on before leaving:
Brazilian national police had to escort both Mongolia coaches off. The one put his pants back on. Both shirtless. And the crowd goes wild.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) August 21, 2016
Everything about the Olympics had been leading to this moment, we just didn’t know it. Without question, though, it was well worth the wait.