Wrestling coaches talk about leaving it all on the mat, but usually, they don't mean your pants.

Two Mongolian coaches didn't get the memo, stripping in protest after a bronze medal 65-kilogram freestyle match in which their wrestler, Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran, lost to Uzbekistan's Ikhtiyor Navruzov on Sunday when the judges awarded a penalty point after the finish of the match.

As the match ended, it appeared Mandakhnaran had won 7-6. His two coaches sprinted onto the mat in celebration, one carrying the flag of Mongolia.

Uzbekistan challenged the scoring, believing that the Mongolian was fleeing instead of fighting because he was running around in celebration with less than 10 seconds left.

Seconds later, it was Navruzov and his coach who were celebrating after the judges awarded the penalty point.

Navruzov won his challenge and the match on criteria.

Mandakhnaran, who had already started celebrating, fell to his knees in disappointment.

The Mongolian coaches went much further.

Byambarenchin Bayaraa took his shoes and shirt off and threw them to the mat in disgust in front of the officials.

Tsenrenbataar Tsostbayar stripped all the way down to his blue briefs. The Brazilian crowd started chanting "Mongolia! Mongolia!"

"This was a protest," Bayaraa said through a translator. "There was a problem with the refereeing. The referees are no good."

"There are 3 million Mongolian people, all waiting for a bronze medal. And now? No medal. Only [a few] Mongolian athletes come here."

Security was brought in as the crowd started cheering "MONGOLIA! MONGOLIA!"

"All of the stadium was behind us," Bayaraa said. "One hundred percent for Mongolia."

Eventually security was able to escort the two coaches off the mat.

It was the second controversial call of the day involving one of Navruzov's matches. Wrestling's international federation removed all three officials from competition after Navruzov's quarterfinal.

United World Wrestling said that Tong-Kun Chung of South Korea, Temo Kazarashvili of Georgia and Russia's Sergei Novakoskiy, who oversaw the match between Puerto Rico's Franklin Gomez and Navruzov, also face further investigation and possible sanctions.

"The referees were not good. They only supported the Uzbek," Bayaraa said.

Clone war

The U.S. women's basketball team won eight consecutive games in the Olympics and earned a gold medal after a 101-72 victory over Spain on Saturday.

It was the second time they'd beaten the Spanish team after a 103-63 victory in pool play, a score very close to the average score -- 102-65 -- of the Americans' eight-games run.

"For other teams, competing with the U.S. is a little like jumping into a swimming pool and facing five clones of Katie Ledecky," wrote ESPN.com's Mimi Kimes, "or battling an army of Simone Biles-bots on the gymnastics mat."

Souvenir shop

Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times has an idea for a hot item at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

"Surefire hot seller at the next Olympics: "We Wuz Robbed!" T-shirts, featuring Ryan Lochte and the 1972 U.S. basketball team."

What's a bronze?

According to Jim Barach of Charleston, W.Va., ABC affiliate WCHS-TV, a study that claims bronze-medal winners celebrate more than those winning silver has raised some confusion among athletes.

After referencing the study, Barach said, "To which Michael Phelps says, 'The Olympics have a bronze medal?' "

Sports quiz

Mongolia competed in its first Olympics in 1964. How many medals have its athletes won since then?

Answer

26, including 1 silver (judo) and 1 bronze (boxing) in Rio de Janeiro.

Sports on 08/22/2016