From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthrow down the gauntletthrow down the gauntletCOMPETE WITH/TRY TO BEATto invite someone to fight or compete over a disagreement → gauntlet
Examples from the Corpus
throw down the gauntlet• Fresh from their success they have thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of the Group.• At this point Morag Harkness, Sales Manager threw down the gauntlet and challenged the guys to a netball match.• Cerda interviewed those named in his testimony, including Wally Fuentes Morrison, and then threw down the gauntlet to Pinochet.• It's going on five years since Earl Woods threw down the gauntlet and the snickering has stopped. 