United States vs. Iran

The grudge: “Death to America” has been a familiar catchphrase on Tehran’s streets ever since the CIA helped remove the democratically elected Mohammad Mossadeq in the 1950s. Iran returned the favor by storming the U.S. Embassy and seizing 52 hostages during the 1979 revolution that overthrew the shah, a close U.S. ally. Given President George W. Bush’s 2002 “Axis of Evil” speech, Iranian meddling in Iraq, and the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, relations haven’t improved much since.

The competitors: Daniel McCormick (blue) of the United States and Iran’s Mohammed Reza Rodaki (white) squared off in men’s over-100-kg judo on Aug. 15.

The result: Rodaki pinned McCormick for the victory, something we can probably expect to hear about from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad soon.