Wrestling World In Shock After Being Dropped From 2020 Olympics
Today the executive board of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) announced it has decided to exclude wrestling from the 2020 Olympic Games. After a thorough assessment of all 26 sports at the 2012 London Games, it seems that wrestling was the least fit to continue. This comes after speculations that Taekwondo or Modern Pentathlon would get the axe.
Although wrestling was the final choice for the exclusion, it does have a chance to win a reprieve when the IOC meets in South America to ratify their decision this September. It looks like wrestling will now be competing with wushu, karate, squash, roller sports, wakeboarding, sport climbing, and baseball/softball for a coveted place in the 2020 games. However, it is extremely unlikely wrestling will get voted back in so soon after its removal.
FILA, the world governing body for amateur wrestling, made a statement on their website: “FILA will take all necessary steps to convince the executive committee and members of the IOC of this aberration of a decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic games.” It is no secret that the sport of wrestling has helped the Olympics grow into the event it is today. After all, wrestling was part of the 1896 inaugural modern Olympics in Athens, and has been an integral part of every Olympics with the exception of Paris in 1900. Last year, London’s Olympics featured 344 wrestlers competing in 11 medal events.
Olympic inclusion is absolutely essential to the sport of wrestling. Every wrestler spends their entire career striving towards a chance to compete in the Olympics. Furthermore, wrestling is a huge sport internationally, thriving in countries such as Russia, Iran, Cuba, Georgia, Turkey, Japan, and India, amongst others. What was going through the minds of the IOC’s executives to make such an awful decision? It’s a sad day for wrestling.
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but apparently all other “sports” are more qualified to remain??
Including “speedwalking”..
Cmon guys. You know they gotta make room for equestrian and synchronized diving. So ****ing dumb!
https://www.change.org/petitions/the-international-olympic-committee-save-wrestling-as-an-olympic-sport-saveolympicwrestling#share
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This is just amazing…maybe it opens the door for mma later down the road?! Who knows in this day and age. I’m shocked and feel that this is just stupid. They’re taking the heart, soul and spirit out of what the original Olympics were founded on. The best in your area challenging the best in another at man to man combat slash wrestling. What’s next weightlifting? IMHO…wow crazy news
Next they are going to remove sport shooting and boxing. Eventually they’ll make it where it’s so freaking boring that no one will care.
with how corrupt olympic boxing is and how hilarious the judging is they need to keep wrestling and drop that farce
I don’t necessarily agree that they should drop olympic boxing, but I will agree that there has been some SERIOUSLY corrupt $hit that has gone down with it. If I had to choose to keep one, wrestling wins, hands down, all day long
Anthony Pettis and Sasbitch are prolly jumpin for joy… Wrestling all day bitches!
Who’s Sasbich? (Honest curiosity lol)
So wrestling gets the ax, but curling is still an olympic sport?? Why is obama not demanding skeet shooting be eliminated as an olympic event?? After all, it involves a gun…….
what do you know about curling? I’m a two time national champion and I can tell you it’s way more technical than wrestling. Wrestling is for gay$ curling rules!
Good wrestling is shite.
Wakeboarding? Sport Climbing? Squash? Am I missing something? Wrestling is the basis for many sports, especially Pankration and MMA. Not to mention one of the first Olympic sports. How about we get rid of synchronized swimming, equestrian, badminton? Nobody watches those either! Oh Cael Sanderson where are you when we need you?
Just a thought…. Maybe this was the IOC’s “nip in the butt” tactic to prevent even the thought of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from becoming an Olympic game. Because there has been speculation since the rise of MMA that Jiu-Jitsu should be an Olympic sport. But I feel That the IOC has made a very GRAVE mistake and this is a great Blemish on the tradition of the Olympics to take such an integral game (Greco – roman wrestling Dates back to the beginning games). How can you remove wrestling and keep CURLING! Curling is nothing more than competitive cleaning! ALL YOU NORDS better pray that Mexico never gets a CURLING team!
not a huge fan of watching wrestling matches but would 10 fold prefer it over golf. it’s not that i don’t mind gold, it’s that i love the competative aspect wrestling brings and with this happening, the likelyness of jiu jitsu being an olympic sport has degressed to NIL.
haven’t read into this much, not sure who is in charge of it all, but fudge em’
Can’t believe they are dropping wrestling from the Olympics which predates pretty much every martial art by centuries…I don’t think Jiu jitsu will ever have a place in the Olympics though, nor do I think it deserves one. Let’s be honest it’s origins are in judo, someone stole judo and threw in some submissions = jiu jitsu…plus it’s also already very well represented with competitions around the world, world championships, ADFC etc.
Wtf pankration is the first form og olympics and mma and they used wrestling… how can we have water polo and not wrestling i used to play that shit in my pool when i was like 10 and i thiught it was just a pool game not a god damn sport. wtestling is a legit sport at least.
This whole fukcing thing reeks of scandal and greased palms. Someone’s bank account is about to be on swole.
If Cuba’s Mijain Lopez sets his sights on MMA it’s game over for Cain/JDS/whoever because he wil eat them….