Sammie Henson and Brandon Slay had to be two of the unhappiest silver medalists ever to take the ceremonial walk to the second-place Olympic podium.
Slay lost 4-0 to Alexander Leipold of Germany in the 167 1/2-pound freestyle wrestling final Saturday, and Henson dropped a 4-3 decision to Namig Abdullayev of Azerbaijan at 119 pounds. Both Americans believed they were beaten by bad decisions by referees and judges rather than by their opponents.
Slay barely contained his frustration, pushing away the referee’s hand after his match. Henson dropped to his knees in agony, then ran from the mat crying in anger.
Gold-medal matches cannot be protested, so both wrestlers had to return to accept their silver medals in ceremonies along with the gold and bronze medalists.
“If I had lost fair and square, I would have had a smile on my face,” Slay said.
His primary complaint was that officials on the mat awarded two points to Leipold before action began in the second period. Slay was penalized two points for not allowing Leipold to grasp him in the period-starting clinch, then penalized another point for grabbing the German’s fingers.
“I had to go after him and I gave it my best shot,” he said. “But it’s easy to wrestle when you’re ahead 3-0. He doesn’t have to do anything to win the match.”
Leipold fended off Slay’s various attacks, with the American desperately dropping down to try to take out his legs. On one of Slay’s lunges, Leipold drove him to the mat for a 4-0 victory.
“This is the worst I’ve ever felt after a loss in my life,” Slay said. Accusing his opponent of “whining” and “acting” to get the points, Slay said. “It’s tough to know he’s Olympic champion and he didn’t score one point to get it.”
Leipold, 31, who speaks some English, told Slay, 24, he would have two more chances to win Olympic gold. Slay was not appeased.
“Who knows what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life, or four years from now?” said Slay. “I wanted that medal now, tonight.”
Meanwhile, Henson, a St. Louis native, and his coaches believed he should have been awarded penalty points because Abdullayev had repeatedly stalled and illegally grasped Henson’s singlet.
His face was a teary-eyed grimace throughout the medal ceremony, and Henson left the arena without commenting.
“I didn’t talk to Sammie because I saw the agony he was in,” Slay said. Four other U.S. freestylers advanced to classification matches.
Terry Brands won the bronze at 127 3/4 and Lincoln McIlravy did the same at 152. Kerry McCoy and Charles Burton lost tight matches in the quarterfinals for fifth place.
