MOST SPECTACULAR BREAKDOWNS IN SPORTS HISTORY

In every sport, there is nothing more uncomfortable or embarrassing to watch than a meltdown; that single moment when an athlete finally absorbs all the criticism, the pressure, the boos in the stadium and just emotionally malfunctions. They can manifest in fights, tantrums or complete surrender. But usually it's fights. Regardless of what form they take, they are almost always excruciating to witness and so naturally, they are littered across YouTube with hundreds of thousands of hits apiece. Most of them we've all seen by now but sportunes will be bringing to your cyber step from time to time some of the biggest sports meltdowns you've probably never heard about. Enjoy, I guess.



Angel Matos -- Taekwondo

    

 Cuban taekwondo fighter, Angel Matos had one of the fastest meltdowns in sports history. In 2008 he was competing in his third Summer Olympics when he suffered an injury to his foot during a fight for the bronze medal. The Olympic rule for any injury in a taekwondo match is that the athlete only has a brief window of time to stop the bleeding, put his leg back on, etc. or else he is disqualified. Matos had broken a toe and couldn't treat it in the allotted time so judge called the match. Perhaps because of a language barrier between Matos and the Swedish judge, he didn't understand the rules and was immediately furious when he found out he just lost a match he was winning only seconds earlier. In response, Matos tried to explain as well as he could that his toe wasn't a problem, using the universal language of kicking the judge in the face.

                 

Logically speaking, it was the best proof he could have provided that his foot was completely functional, so Matos was understandably surprised when the judge was still unwilling to retract his call. Slipping further and further into a meltdown of frustration, Matos threatened the judge a few times which was confusing for everyone since people usually have better success putting the threat of physical violence before the act. He finished it all off by pushing another judge in the chest and then spitting on the floor of the stadium. The meltdown not only cost him the chance to appeal the decision, it also earned him a lifetime ban from ever competing again.

Yang Jin-Suk, the president of the World Taekwondo Federation, had high praises for Matos: "He is insult to the Olympic vision, an insult to the spirit of taekwondo and, in my opinion, an insult to mankind." It's flattering, and fitting.