International Olympic Committee Cuts Wrestling from 2020 Olympics

[RyFo18]

This is stupid if you ask me. 90% of the people on here probably don't care. But you have an event where people ride around on horses telling them to do stupid shit (Dressing) and you cut wrestling?

Source

IOC Drops Wrestling From 2020 Olympics
By STEPHEN WILSON
LAUSANNE, Switzerland
abcnews.go.com


International Olympic Committee drops wrestling from the 2020 Olympic program

The Associated Press

IOC leaders dropped wrestling from the Olympic program on Tuesday, a surprise decision that removes one of the oldest Olympic sports from the 2020 Games.

The IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon — the event considered most at risk — and remove wrestling instead from its list of 25 "core sports."

The IOC board acted after reviewing the 26 sports on the current Olympic program. Eliminating one sport allows the International Olympic Committee to add a new sport to the program later this year.

Wrestling, which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events, goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.

"This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "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."

Adams said the decision was made by secret ballot over several rounds, with members voting each time on which sport should not be included in the core group. IOC President Jacques Rogge did not vote.

Wrestling was voted out from a final group that also included modern pentathlon, taekwondo and field hockey, officials familiar with the vote told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the voting details were not made public.

The board voted after reviewing a report by the IOC program commission report that analyzed 39 criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.

The international wrestling federation, known by the French acronym FILA, is headed by Raphael Martinetti and is based in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. Calls to the federation for comment were not immediately returned.

Wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at last year's London Olympics. Women's wrestling was added to the Olympics at the 2004 Athens Games.

Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single opening in 2020.

The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC session, or general assembly, in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It is extremely unlikely that wrestling would be voted back in so soon after being removed by the executive board.

"Today's decision is not final," Adams said. "The session is sovereign and the session will make the final decision."

The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games. Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Previously considered under the closest scrutiny was modern pentathlon, which has been on the Olympic program since the 1912 Stockholm Games. It was created by French baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, and combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting.

Klaus Schormann, president of governing body UIPM, lobbied hard to protect his sport's Olympic status and it paid off in the end.

"We have promised things and we have delivered," he said after Tuesday's decision. "That gives me a great feeling. It also gives me new energy to develop our sport further and never give up."

Modern pentathlon also benefited from the work of Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., the son of the former IOC president who is a UIPM vice president and member of the IOC board.

"We were considered weak in some of the scores in the program commission report but strong in others," Samaranch told the AP. "We played our cards to the best of our ability and stressed the positives. Tradition is one of our strongest assets, but we are also a multi-sport discipline that produces very complete people."

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Hard to believe they cut this over Equestrian?? Does the horse get the medal or the rider?

I'm telling you, it is Mitt Romney's fault. He runs the dancing horsey world.

[cosmo20002]

Rowdy Roddy Piper better get his shit together for 2016. He'll be too old for 2024.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Rudy Was Offsides.

Link?

Its all over the news. Russia and India are appealing it which is completely unprecedented, the IOC president is meeting with FILA, also completely unprecedented, they are now back-peddling talking about how maybe it wont be just one sport recommended to add to the other 25, but as many as 3.

Its clear by simple common sense that wrestling will obviously be saved, I don't need a link.

I'd even go so far as to say that it was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that wrestling probably wouldn't be cut like in my post from yesterday, the media just just lazily relied on what happened to baseball when they said it was over for wrestling.

[BigChiefTablet]

They still have rhythmic gymnastics where women wave ribbons around. So we got that.

[redhed]

I blame the X-games.

[alnorth]

Interesting. I just read a story where 4 years ago one of the leaders of the US Olympic Committee was meeting with the IOC executive board to discuss why the Chicago bid failed, and he just happened to learn that wrestling was possibly in trouble. He immediately alerted FILA that they needed to get to work on wining and dining the IOC's executive board, but he was completely ignored.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Interesting...is it because not enough countries participate anymore? TV ratings for it are down? Heck, when they broadcast the games, you can barely find it. They put it on CNBC at Midnight.

Ratings are not down. The stupid shit they force you to watch is down. Thete should be multiple channels showing every sport live then recapped. Hell create extra channels for it. All the cool shit is never shown.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Its all over the news. Russia and India are appealing it which is completely unprecedented, the IOC president is meeting with FILA, also completely unprecedented, they are now back-peddling talking about how maybe it wont be just one sport recommended to add to the other 25, but as many as 3.

Its clear by simple common sense that wrestling will obviously be saved, I don't need a link.

I'd even go so far as to say that it was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that wrestling probably wouldn't be cut like in my post from yesterday, the media just just lazily relied on what happened to baseball when they said it was over for wrestling.

Thats good. It is an original sport. Thousands of years oldd and still relevant.

[crazycoffey]

Watch them replace it with MMA fighting. Only reason it would make sense. Otherwise WTF

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Interesting. I just read a story where 4 years ago one of the leaders of the US Olympic Committee was meeting with the IOC executive board to discuss why the Chicago bid failed, and he just happened to learn that wrestling was possibly in trouble. He immediately alerted FILA that they needed to get to work on wining and dining the IOC's executive board, but he was completely ignored.

Both FILA and the IOC are composed of some of the most moronic people on this planet. ****, FILA completely ****ed over Kolat.

[Rudy Was Offsides]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Its all over the news. Russia and India are appealing it which is completely unprecedented, the IOC president is meeting with FILA, also completely unprecedented, they are now back-peddling talking about how maybe it wont be just one sport recommended to add to the other 25, but as many as 3.

Its clear by simple common sense that wrestling will obviously be saved, I don't need a link.

I'd even go so far as to say that it was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that wrestling probably wouldn't be cut like in my post from yesterday, the media just just lazily relied on what happened to baseball when they said it was over for wrestling.

Fair enough. I was hopeful when learning of the IOC meeting. It's also nice to have Russians, Indians, and Iranians on your side. Who knows...might shake things up a bit with FILA and things turn for the better.

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by Rudy Was Offsides.

Fair enough. I was hopeful when learning of the IOC meeting. It's also nice to have Russians, Indians, and Iranians on your side. Who knows...might shake things up a bit with FILA and things turn for the better.

FILA needs to be burned to the ****ing ground.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Rudy Was Offsides.

Fair enough. I was hopeful when learning of the IOC meeting. It's also nice to have Russians, Indians, and Iranians on your side. Who knows...might shake things up a bit with FILA and things turn for the better.

The USOC finally weighed in today with a sort of measured response disagreeing with the decision. Makes sense for us to not be first or too angry, to avoid having a situation where European OC's reflexively go against wrestling because the Americans are pissed. Now that Russia, Iran, and India are all howling (and Greece too, apparently) its probably safe for us to say something.

[Rudy Was Offsides]

Originally Posted by Sorter

FILA needs to be burned to the ****ing ground.

pretty much.

Ball grabs

[theelusiveeightrop]

Badminton is still though right? ( wipes brow as a sign of relief)