Do you remember the two Mongolian coaches who ripped off their clothes in protest at the Rio Olympics, incensed about officiating that cost their wrestler a bronze medal?
Now, the international wrestling federation has banned Tserenbaatar Tsogbayar and Byambarenchen Bayaraa from international competition for three years, according to a letter obtained by the Associated Press.
The Mongolian national federation has also been fined about $51,000, the report said.
The protest occurred shortly after Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia appeared to defeat Uzbekistan’s Ikhtiyor Navruzov in the 143-pound class.
But Mandakhnaran was penalized a point for celebrating too early. Then his coaches protested the call and lost their appeal, which cost their wrestler another point and gave Navruzov an 8-7 victory.
“There was a problem with the refereeing,” Bayaraa said at the time. “Three million people in Mongolia waited for this bronze medal and now we have no medal.”
In a chaotic scene, Bayaraa and Tsogbayar began stripping down, one of them offering his clothes to officials as a symbolic protest.