World championship tournaments that immediately follow the Olympics often produce surprises, and the 1997 Krasnoyarsk championships in Russia were no exception. 

For the Americans, it was a changing of the guard. Gone were all the medal winners from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Team USA earned two medals in 1997, down from Atlanta's haul of five, albeit with two fewer weight classes to work with. Les Gutches would win gold, while first-time world team member Cary Kolat would earn silver, thus completing the first chapter of his quixotic quest for an elusive world championship.

Watch The Story of Cary Kolat: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3

But being as this was a wrestling tournament in Russia, Krasnoyarsk would feature as much drama off the mat as on it. 

The catalyst was a match between Adam Saitiev of Russia and Igor Kupeev of Uzbekistan. Saitiev was the hometown favorites. He and his brother Buvaisar were both competing for Russia and were training at the local club in Krasnoyarsk. This was Adam's first world team, while Buvaisar had won back-to-back golds in Atlanta, at the 1996 Olympics and 1995 World Championships.

Additionally, the Saitiev brothers are Chechen, and quite a few passionate fans made the 4,000-mile-plus trek from Chechnya to Siberia. 

The match between Saitiev and Kupeev, from the early rounds of the 69kg weight class, can be seen below. 

Right after the 10-minute mark in the video is a flurry that would determine the outcome of the match. According to the overtime rules in place at the time, the next point scored by either wrestler would determine the match. In the deciding sequence, Kupeev attacks and has Saitiev on his heels, but Saitiev counters by cartwheeling on his head—a move his countryman Anzor Boltukaev would also master many years later—launching his hips over Kupeev and eventually coming out on top for the match-clinching takedown. 

The referee, who happened to be American, ruled in favor of Saitiev. But the Uzbeks would challenge the call, and since this was in the era before mat-side video review, the review would come after Saitiev already had his hand raised and was declared the winner. 

After consulting the videotape, the call was overturned. It was decided that Tupeev has initiated the sequence and caused Saitiev to expose his back, giving Tupeev the points and the retroactive victory. 

That's when the Chechens began a protest of their own. Contemporary estimates put the number of angry Chechens at 400 who swarmed the FILA officials in attendance (FILA being the precursor to the UWW, the current administrative body of international wrestling). The mob threatened to kidnap the president of FILA. In response, a number of AK-47-brandishing police marched in to restore order. The officials called a second meeting, to review the review.

Larry Sciacchetano, the U.S. FILA representative, was also in Krasnoyarsk. Sciacchetano spoke to Sports Illustrated shortly after the incident.

It was pretty hairy. The guy from Uzbekistan who wanted to withdraw the protest ... you had to wonder. He had already won the protest, but he either a) had been threatened or b) had been paid some money. In the end, we did the right thing. We upheld the protest. It was a terrific decision for wrestling.

The refs stood firm, the reversal of the original call was upheld, and the Chechen mob was quelled. The rest of the tournament concluded in relative tranquility.

Adam Saitiev would shake off the setback and go on to win three world championships, His brother Buvaisar would collect nine world and Olympic medals and firmly establish himself in the conversation for G.O.A.T. And it would regretfully not be the last time riot police would be needed to subdue an incensed crowd at a Russian wrestling tournament.