One athlete publicly called his coach "a jerk." Another accused his opponent of being unsportsmanlike for failing to own up to a scoring error. And a third threw such a tantrum after receiving a bronze medal that the International Olympic Committee took it away.

So much for the Olympic motto of "swifter, higher, stronger." So far, athletes are adding "gripe, fuss, complain" to the list at the Beijing Games. Most athletes have handled disappointment gracefully even while fighting back tears in defeat. But the past week has also offered several forgettable moments when it comes to sportsmanship - one of the Olympic ideals - even amid the brilliance of athletes like Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt.

South Korea's Lee Kyung-won complained after Friday's gold-medal loss to the host Chinese in badminton doubles that officiating should have been "more fair" in the tournament. That same day, U.S. baseball manager Davey Johnson accused a Cuban pitcher of throwing at the head of a player who was injured when he fouled off a bunt into his left eye; he backed off a bit after the Cubans denied the incident was intentional and said Johnson's comment amounted to "a lack of respect."

To cap off Friday, a tennis match between American James Blake and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez ended with Blake ripping his opponent for not conceding a disputed point - the ball apparently touched Gonzalez's racket before going out of bounds. The debate ended up tarnishing both Blake as the complainer and Gonzalez as the alleged offender of the sport's so-called gentleman's code.

Then there's boxing and its subjective scoring system, a reliable source of controversy at Olympics for decades. This time, Russian fighters have shown clear disgust after losses and American welterweight Demetrius Andrade bolted from the ring Sunday even before his opponent's arm was raised in victory.

And then there was Dzhakhon Kurbanov of Tajikistan, who was disqualified from his light heavyweight quarterfinal bout Tuesday when he bit his opponent in the shoulder with 17 seconds left in the third round.
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Yet to listen to Sean McCann, a senior sport psychologist with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the only surprise is that blowups don't happen more often.

The 10,000 athletes here from more than 200 nations are the most competitive people their countries can produce. They've all waited four years for this moment, training tirelessly and arriving with massive expectations that are built as much on raw emotion as technique and performance.

Add disappointment to that level of pressure, and things can get ugly even for the coolest of competitors.

"For most athletes, it's a validation of their career," McCann said. "To succeed here, you really do have to believe it will happen and really see yourself being able to do it. But the reality is there's a lot of great people out there trying to get the same thing and it's not likely to happen. You're going against the odds to be able to pull it off.

"You don't talk about that ahead of time, and because of that, some athletes who are great at believing don't really have a Plan B and they don't have a gracious response to it - because it's something they haven't prepared for."

Still, that doesn't explain everything.

It doesn't explain why Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian came unhinged after a loss to eventual gold medalist Andrea Minguzzi of Italy in last week's Greco-Roman 84-kilogram semifinals. Incensed by a disputed penalty call that decided the match, Abrahamian had to be restrained from matside officials afterward before storming off to the dressing areas and slamming a door so hard the wall shook. Friends had to persuade him to compete in the bronze-medal match.

Once on the medal stand, he took the bronze from around his neck and angrily dropped it on the mat as he walked away. The IOC stripped him of the medal Saturday for violating the spirit of fair play and disrespecting his fellow athletes.

Nor does McCann's analysis explain why Russian weightlifter Khadzhimurat Akkaev popped off about his coach, all because he was entered into a "Group B" session with lower-rated lifters Sunday. Akkaev won the bronze, but was fuming afterward regardless.

"My coach is a jerk," he said. "If I had competed in Group A, I would have won the gold. My competitors were chasing my kilos."

Overall, the number of incidents hasn't been too alarming, considering the many athletes in Beijing, said four-time speedskating gold medalist Johann Olav Koss. He's president and chief executive officer of Right to Play, which promotes sports for children in disadvantaged parts of the world. One of the organization's major aims is to teach sportsmanship and respect for the rules.

"Everybody's human and these are emotions that are involved," Koss said. "The interesting part is how we deal with these things. It's going to happen and how do you deal with it? The IOC has put down clear rules regarding the medals. I think that is a very strong message. That's kind of reinforcing what we believe in acting on the best values of sports."

Still, while Koss seemed somewhat forgiving, others sound weary of the theatrics.

Wu Ching-Kuo, the president of the International Boxing Association, has heard plenty of scoring complaints from the U.S., Ukraine, Russia, Britain and other nations. His response could serve as a reminder to all about how to conduct themselves in the final week of the games - win or lose.

"I would hope everybody would have good sportsmanship," Wu said Monday. "Win, fine. Lose, don't always lose and complain."