Australians seethe after athletes ruin medal chances

11:08 pm on 7 October 2010

Australia's sporting reputation has been tarnished by the bad tempers of two of its athletes at the Commonwealth Games.

The athletes made rude gestures to officials on separate occasions in Delhi, ruining their chances of winning a gold medal.

Australia is a country that prides itself on good sportsmanship in all sports but the two cases have left officials seething.

The latest bad sport was cyclist Shane Perkins, who faces disciplinary action after making a rude gesture.

Perkins angrilly flipped his hand twice to officials after losing his chance to race for a gold medal in the men's keirin at the Indira Ghandi Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Australian sprint coach Gary West says Perkins will face in-house discipline for losing his cool.

The incident follows the actions of wrestler Hassene Fkiri, who refused to shake hands with his rival and made a finger gesture towards match officials on Tuesday.

Fkiri was competing against India's Anil Kumar in a gold medal match when he was disqualified.