Referee Goes down with Wrestlers

Two brawny wrestlers got tangled with each other until one thrust his body against the other, who stumbled out of the competition area and brought down the referee.

World championships silver medalist Kanatbek Begaliev of Kyrgyzstan won over Armen Vardanyan of Ukraine in a landslide victory in the men's 66kg Greco-Roman wrestling in the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday.

The referee quickly stood up with a serious face and judged two points in favor of the attacker Begaliev for bringing the opponent into "danger position".

The referee was in real danger as he himself almost fell from the elevated wrestling platform. However, the Olympic wrestling rules do not judge penalty against wrestlers who unwittingly put referees in danger.

Begaliev will take on Steeve Guenot of France in the final on Wednesday afternoon.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2008)

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