The Olympics Kick Wrestling Out of The Park { Why?}
If the ancient sport wants to get back into the 2020 Games,
it will reportedly have to compete
with wakeboarding, roller sports, and wushu
In a surprise move, the International Olympic Committee has reportedly voted to drop
wrestling from the 2020 Olympics. The ancient sport, which has been part of the
modern version of the Games since their debut in 1896, was deemed unworthy of
inclusion in the 25 "core sports" that comprise the Olympic program.
The IOC made the decision after several rounds of secret balloting at the organization’s
headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Other contenders for elimination included the
modern pentathlon, taekwondo, and field hockey. IOC members used 39 criteria,
"including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy, and global participation
and policy," according to the Associated Press.
Now that wrestling has been pushed to the fringes, it will have to contend with seven
other sports vying for a single, final spot in the 2020 Games: Karate, squash, roller sports,
sport climbing, wakeboarding, wushu, and a combined bid for softball and baseball.
The IOC's decision is obviously a huge blow to the sport, whose one moment in the global
spotlight comes at the Olympics. "The news from the IOC is extremely disappointing,”
said Colin Nicholson, the head of Britain's national wrestling program. "If wrestling is taken
out of the Olympics, it will be a great disappointment as it is an extremely popular sport
around the world."
It's a loss, too, for even the most casual viewers, who may enjoy those quadrennial glimpses into
one of the most intense sports in the world — cauliflower ears, groped crotches, and all. Sports
like wakeboarding and squash, with their modern accouterments, don't have the stripped-down,
almost pure quality of wrestling. They certainly don't have the legacy: Wrestling half the time
has "Greco-Roman" in front of it, a reminder of its status as one of the original athletic tests of
humankind. Indeed, an Olympics without wrestling is like an Olympics without the discus throw
or gymnastics — those sports are part and parcel of what define the Olympics.
The board, for its part, says the Olympics can't live in stasis. "This is a process of renewing
and
renovating the program for the Olympics," said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. "In the view
of the
executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It's not a case of
what’s wrong with wrestling, it is what's right with the 25 core sports."
The board's decision will come up for a final vote by the IOC's general assembly, but it is not
expected to be overturned.
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