The IOC executive committee voted today to drop wrestling from the 2020 summer Olympic games. It was a secret ballot vote. The IOC wants to cap the summer Olympics growth and athlete participation at 10,500. The IOC voted to include golf and rugby in time for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. There are currently 25 medal sports in the summer Olympics.
Wrestling is a Olympics founding sport and has been around since 708 BC and was included in the first modern Olympics in 1896. The IOC was expected to cut modern pentathlon but decided on wrestling instead. The IOC based its decsion based on things like global participation and popularity. USA wrestling and FILA( Wrestling International Federation) will try to lobby the IOC to reinstate the sport to the IOC executive board in May. The IOC will vote on which sport to add in September 2013. The seven other sports lobbying to be included in the 2020 Olympics are baseball, softball, sport climbing, squash, karate, roller sports, wushu and wakeboarding.
There were 344 athletes who competed in 11 medal events in freestyle wrestling and seven medal events in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2012 London Olympics. The USA has won 124 total medals in wrestling since its inception while the USSR won 116.
The USA had two gold medalists at last summer's London games, Jake Varner and Jordan Burroughs. Clarissa Chun won bronze along with Coleman Scott in women's freestyle. American women have won four medals since its inclusion at the 2004 Athens games.
The USOC does not have a seat on the 15-member IOC executive board. In 2005 The IOC voted to drop baseball and softball.
I, as well as, the USOC and USA wrestling are shocked at the IOC decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment