The final day of the Rio Olympics turned out to be a dramatic one, after Mongolian wrestling coaches Byambarenchin Bayaraa and Tserenbaatar Tsogtbayar stripped their clothes off to protest the referee’s decision in denying them a bronze medal.
The incident began when Uzbekistan’s Ikhtiyor Navruzov took on Mandakhnaran Ganzorig of Mongolia in the 65kg category bronze medal match.
Ganzorig was leading 7-6 and he appeared to have clinched the bronze, but the judges overturned the decision by awarding a penalty point to Navruzov to cut short Mongolia’s celebration.
The Mongolian kneeled in disappointment but his coaches took one step further by taking off their clothing on the mat.
Security was ushered in as the crowd started chanting “Mongolia! Mongolia!”
“This is a protest. There was a mistake with the judging. Three million Mongolians have been waiting for this bronze medal but we were left with none now,” said Bayaraa.
Protesta plateale con spogliarello per gli allenatori della Mongolia #wrestling #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/DJW9tD1lwl
— Michele Gazzetti (@MicheleGazzetti) August 21, 2016
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