Swedish Foolishness in Beijing

Picture courtesy of The Telegraph (UK).

Earlier today, Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian won the bronze medal in the 84 kg competition in Beijing. In appreciation of winning the bronze, he threw it on the floor of the gym, walked out, and announced he was quitting the sport. He later said, "I don't care about this medal. I wanted gold." During his semifinal bout with eventual gold medalist Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, he had to be restrained by his teammates when the judges determined Minguzzi the winner. After the medals ceremony, he announced "This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure.”

Abrahamian's lust for a gold medal consumed him. Most people would be okay with a silver or bronze and while they'd prefer the gold, they usually take it with grace and return four years later for another try at the gold. But not this Swede. He wanted the gold so bad that he convinced himself he had won it,even before the competition was over. He thought the gold medal was rightfully his. A preacher named C.J. Mahaney once spoke a sermon about conflicts and cravings, essentially saying that conflicts result when we crave something and we don't get what we want. Abrahamian is a perfect example of this craving.

As of this writing, the United States team leads all other countries with 15 bronze medals at these Games. Think they're going to give up their medals? While we all want the athletes to win gold medals, the silver and bronze are also worth having. After all, by having one of the three medals, you're considered one of the top three athletes in the sport. But Abrahamian isn't the only athlete with this behavior.

If we hold Abrahamian in disdain, shouldn't we hold major league managers like Lou Piniella and Ozzie Guillen who quarrel with umpires and throw tantrums in the same contempt? What about players who commit flagrant fouls on the opposing team in basketball and football? One can speculate as to how these players' pride swells up. Perhaps they grew up in an insulated environment (i.e. baseball games with no kept score) or were told from childhood they were destined for greatness (as some speculate the Chinese have done with their athletes). The world may, and rightfully so, hold utter disregard for Abrahamian, but he isn't the only one that considers everything but the gold, "a failure".