The Swedish coach took over for the year and their coach from the previous year worked as an assistant coach.

"You can have a conversation with a normal person on the street and they know all about him," Ulf Carlsson, the Swedish coach, said of Waldner.

"There is a big difference between third and fourth place," said Tommy Svensson, the Swedish coach.

"This guy has everything, but he can still improve everything," said his Swedish coach, Peter Lundgren.

For the next nine years, four Swedish coaches in a row took charge of a team that proved to be highly unstable.

"We don't really know how the people feel - you know, if they're used to tennis or not," said the Swedish coach, John Sjogren.

'We don't get many English for that,' grinned the Swedish coach.

Abrahamian threw down his 84kg greco-roman bronze in disgust after his shot at gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as "politics".

"Today we met a fantastic hockey team, the real champions of the Olympics," said Curt Lindstrom, the Swedish coach.

The Americans' coach, Dave Peterson, refused to shake hands with the Swedish coach after the game.