Where Were You When "The Mongolians Protested"

Welcome to the first installment of something I’m hoping to collaborate with some other wrestling personalities on. In some of these posts, we’ll explore some of the unforgettable moments in wrestling, where you were, and your immediate reactions. Or at least how you remember and talk about it now. In this first installment, and with the Olympics coming up, I thought the natural place to start was with the Mongolians stripping down when their wrestler lost the match as a result of a late call. At risk of burying the lead too much, lets get right to it. If you want to watch the clip of the event before reading, I have that at the bottom of the article as well to reference. Thanks to our contributors for this first installment.

Jason Bryant - Mat Talk Network - In 2016, I was serving as the English-speaking announcer for the wrestling competition at the Rio Olympic Games. It's a very strict set of protocols you have to follow with the cadence for the victory ceremony, order of introductions, what languages are said where, so it's a little bit more uptight than the regular tournament I may announce. There was some angst following the Uzbek (Navruzov) with his controversial win over Franklin Gomez earlier in the day, then comes the caution and one at the end of the bout to bring the bout to criteria and cost the Mongolian wrestler an Olympic medal. From a scoring standpoint, I think it was the right call for the wrong reason. Eat the whistle there. Rules were set in motion following Rio and that situation also led to an emphasis in how fleeing is called at the end of bouts. During the whole time, I sat and waited - it's not my job at the Olympic Games to opine on what should or shouldn't have happened. It's my job to explain what's happening - and when the Mongolian coaches started to plead their case to the officiating body and to the international federation, I stayed silent. Why? Partially because my mouth was hanging open at what was unfolding. I couldn't explain what was going on, because like everyone else there, I was just waiting for what was going to happen next. Jack, a then-nine-year-old at the end of my street asked me "What did you say when the Chinese guys were taking off their clothes?"

 I looked at Jack and said "Caution and One Navruzov, winner and bronze medalist from Uzbekistan, Iktyor Navruzov"

 Yes, that's the simple sentence that I had to tell the people within Carioca Arena 2. One of the most insane things I've ever seen in the sport, if not the most unpredictable. Having learned more about why the Mongolians elected to disrobe in protest, basically saying "you've taken everything from me, now take my clothes too." I don't know if it was overboard from their perspective, but it's not something I'd recommend in any coaching course. I understand their sentiment, but sadly, that moment overshadowed the rest of the great performances, especially from Team USA, in the news cycle. 

 If I had made any type of opinionated comment over the PA during that situation, I would have been done internationally and would never call another Olympics again. It's a story that's amusing to talk about now, but at the time, I was truly speechless, partially because I had to be and partially because of what I was witnessing. 

Bryce Villa - The Open Mat - Wow. My immediate memory when I think back just five years to the 2016 Olympics in Rio is of this incident. It is not our women's first wrestling gold by Helen Maroulis, not Michael Phelps winning his last medal, or any other incredible events finish. The thing I remember immediately is the Mongolian coaches losing their minds and I only found out about that through Twitter. It caught my attention  immediately as it happened though, social media exploded. The video that followed shortly after had me glued to my screen.. I was on my phone at my part-time job just reading through Tweets as quickly as possible to catch up. I can tell you that I still do not know if it was the correct call in that bronze medal match, but does that really matter. I will say, the protest put me firmly on the Mongolians side. Who gets that upset over a call they are wishy-washy about? They believed their athlete got robbed and they made me believe it too. I loved them just standing there sans shirt staring down what they viewed to be a corrupt Kabal at the scorers table. As an American I could feel their pain at the shady tricksters sending a questionable call towards the former USSR. Hearing the crowd chant for Mongolia was incredible as the one coach stood their in his skivvies.  The wrestling world was United behind these two men as they poured out all their emotion. It was later that I learned the meaning behind them taking off their shirts. They felt something had been stolen from them so they were saying, "here take my shirt too". Absolutely epic. Anyone who thinks they went too far is a fool. These are the type of coaches I want for my children. Impassioned for their success and willing to fight for them. We are still talking about this five years later and we will keep doing it for another 20.

Tony Hager - IA Wrestle - Ahh the Mongolian celebration and then the protest was simply the best protest in sports history. Screw baseball coaches kicking dirt and spitting in the umpires face. This was epic. I'll admit I wasn't watching the match. You have to feel for them though right? The coaches were so excited to bring a medal home. I mean they were kissing the nasty mat...then it's stripped away. Were they mad they just kissed the mat for no reason? Was it the right call? Passivity with 5 secs left. Meh. 

 My favorite part of the protest is when one of the coaches tries to get the other to stop but then is like....screw it I'm all in. Throwing shoes, handing his clothes to the judges table, the Mongolian wrestler actually left the mat in disgust. Maybe for the call but likely for his coaches going bat shit crazy. It was 100% overboard but I respect the passion this sport brings. 

 What is sad though??? This protest received way more attention from mainstream media, twitter trolls, non-wrestling fans than Helen Maroulis winning gold for the USA. 

Tommy Baranoski - Bloodround - It was probably the right call as he is sprinting away celebrating with a good 7ish ticks on the clock, but this is what you get when freestyle has such terrible passivity/stalling calls and enforcement. It is so rare you get anything but shot clocks so the Mongolian is thinking he just medaled in the Olympics and his life has changed. It’s a tough call in that moment that you basically never see.

The shoe spikes are underrated. Quality and distance on display. Then the old guy is just sitting there holding a shoe that he got hit with while watching Mongolians strip. Him telling that story to someone unfamiliar with the incident has to be incredible every time. Also, they look out of central casting. Two hairless pot-bellied Mongolian guys were perfect for the part. 

 Father Time is undefeated and few can be legends of their sports. The passion seemed genuine, and I have to credit the originality. We have seen chairs get thrown, bases get taken, dirt kicked, etc.....but we (at least Americans) had never seen a coach just strip to their underwear.

 Kevin Claunch - Bloodround - I remember this like it was yesterday. Standing in my kitchen, leaning over the island, streaming the wrestling on my computer. It’s a match for the Olympic Bronze, so of course that’s what I’m doing that day. My sister in law is having a conversation with my wife just ten feet away. About what? Nobody will ever know, as it has no relevance to this. The match was really good. The Mongolian does some tricky defense near the end to go up with about 15 seconds left. Understandably, he’s excited, but with about 5 seconds left (the first 10 seconds he was barely engaging and backing out of every tie up) he starts celebrating, arms raised in triumphant celebration, right in the Uzbekistan wrestlers face. Brent Metcalf would not have liked this.

 The Mongolian wrestler starts celebrating because he’s won the match. Then it shows the Mongolian coach kissing the mat, and the camera cuts back to a tie score, as the Uzbekistan wrestler was awarded the point for Ganzorig (Mongolia) fleeing the hold. First of all, it’s 100% the right call. It was egregious fleeing, but pair that with celebrating in the dudes face, no way that call isn’t made. The Uzbekistan wrestler (Navruzov) should have been given a point just for not punching Ganzorig in the face.

 The best part of the protest was when the second coach appears to get the crowd into it before he too begins to strip. It’s one thing to know the justification for feeling like they took the medals, so take our clothes, but at the moment you know none of that. It goes from 0-100 real quick, and all of a sudden I’m trying to explain to get my wife and sister to come see this. They didn’t move. There was no way for me to articulate what was happening. Not for it to be believable anyway. I was in shock. Complete shock. I just love when they keep cutting back to the shirtless and pant less coaches screaming at the judges. The commentator was just awful though. Stop telling people to move on and to be classy. The WWE couldn’t have scripted something anywhere near as amazing as this.

 Was the protest overboard, not enough, or just right? Despite me thinking the call was correct, I think this protest was perfect. I don’t know how much more could have happened without them being completely naked, which I’m not here for. But yeah, watching these dudes go completely crazy was incredible in the moment and something I’ll never forget. As time has gone on, I’ve never been more in favor of Mongolian wrestling. I never cared about Mongolian wrestlers until this happened, and unless they are competing against the USA, or Bajrang, then I want them to win. This inadvertently made Mongolia my second favorite wrestling country in the world, which is what made this perfect.

Thanks for joining us for this first installment of Where Were You When _______. I appreciate everyone’s contribution, and please shoot some feedback my way as well, and if you have any suggestions for other subjects - kclaunch1@gmail.com. Enjoy watching the whole thing unfold once more, and Rock On.