PHOTOS: Wrestling coach protests defeat by stripping to underwear
An all-time protest includes underwear, bare chests and way too much thigh exposure
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1 min read
We can pretty much guarantee there won't be anything at the closing ceremony that can top what happened Sunday at the wrestling venue in the bronze medal match.
Mongolian coaches bared their chests and showed their underwear in protest.
Surreal doesn't even begin to cover it. Uzbekistan's Ikhtiyor Navruzov took the bronze over Mandakhnaran Ganzorig in the 65kg class because Ganzorig, from Mongolia, celebrated prematurely. This proved costly for both Ganzorig's medal hopes and his coaches' public images.
The verdict came in, and the clothes came off.
One of the coaches, Byambarenchin Bayaraa, told ESPN.com's Wayne Drehs: "This was a protest. There was a problem with the refereeing. The referees were not good. Three million people in Mongolia waited for this bronze medal and now we have no medal. 100 percent of the stadium supported us."
The crowd was indeed cheering heavily for Ganzorig, who had a dramatic and tense match against Navruzov. The Mongolian coaches were eventually removed from the mat by security.
Been a lot of amazing photos at these Olympics. This one is near the top. (USATSI) pic.twitter.com/dp9ixHGzBl
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) August 21, 2016
The coaches didn't drop trou immediately. Only after the decision was seemingly final did the full-body epidermic remonstration begin. The medal means something for Mongolia, a country of 3.1 million people. In terms of geography, it's the 19th-largest country in the world. Yet it's taken just two medals at the Rio Games: a silver in Judo and a bronze in boxing.
Some might say the protest was melodramatic. But to many, these men will become folk heroes.
