Ara Abrahamian
Ara Abrahamian (Armenian: Արա Աբրահամյան; born 27 July 1975) is an Armenian-Swedish wrestler in Greco-Roman wrestling. He has won two World Championships in the 76 kg and 84 kg weight classes and a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 84 kg weight class.
Ara Abrahamian during the Swedish Sports Awards inside the Stockholm Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden in January 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Ara Abrahamian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 July 1975 Leninakan, Armenian SSR (now Gyumri, Armenia) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 84 kg (185 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Armenia Sweden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Greco-Roman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Spårvägens BK | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Ryszard Świerad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Abrahamian won the bronze match at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but he rejected the medal because of a controversial ruling in the semifinal. During the highly publicised medal ceremony, Abrahamian protested by placing the medal in the center of the mat and walking away. He was later disqualified by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and stripped of his rejected bronze medal for disrupting the award ceremony. This resulted in him receiving a lifetime ban from the Olympics. He was also banned from wrestling for two years by FILA, but the ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March 2009.