We at Sports Pros(e) don't believe in stereotyping, but it's a historical fact that the Swedes are a peaceable lot. They haven't been involved in a war since Napoleon's day, when pretty much all of Europe was up in arms.
So the whole brouhaha Thursday at the Chinese Agricultural University Gym (apparently the Chinese aren't pioneers in the field of naming rights) caught us a bit off guard.
In case you didn't hear, Sweden's Ara Abrahamian was none too pleased when his dream of a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling ended when he lost to Italy's Andrea Minguzzi in the semifinals. Abrahamian had to be held back by teammates from going after the officials, to whom he still gave what for.
Those teammates persuaded Abrahamian to wrestle for the bronze medal, which he won. But he made clear his opinion of the third-place finish (or as we like to call it, "second place for losers") by taking the medal off and dropping it on the mat after leaving the podium.
And there was more: Abrahamian also announced his retirement, saying, "This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure."
So do fans of real fireworks and live singing, among other things.
Meanwhile, we hear the Minnesota Vikings, having failed to land one formerly retired star, have inquired into Abrahamian's availability.
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