IOC votes to drop wrestling from Olympics
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - 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."
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."
This makes sense in what universe? It's one of the oldest sports. We drop it and add competitive eating?
the tv spot on this story said something about wrestling's linage and how it has been part of these events since the first olympics... then they mention at the end that wushu (whatever that is, their words) is a sport listed as an alternative...
wushu is Chinese for wrestling and is the martial arts variation of wrestling. In other words, an older and more technical and more advanced form of wrestling. So are they going to replace wrestling with wrestling?
Wouldn't mixed martial arts be the honest replacement? All styles and forms in competition?Â
I never watched wrestling, always thought it to be kinda weird. Now that other sports are being rotated in, the Olympics just might be watchable. I can understand the angst of the wrestlers for being pulled out, and the joy of those in the sports that are next, but as we all know, its the ratings.
I have long wondered how 'sports' such as ping pong made it into the Olympics. I like watching rugby and am glad that it is becoming one of the events in the Olympics, but was disappointed when they dropped softball. Now they are probably going to drop wrestling--doesn't quite make sense to me. Golf hardly seems like a sport worthy of Olympic status while wrestling certainly is.  The decisions obviously do have more than just the specific criteria they mentioned as the deciding factors--in spite of the 'coming together of athletes from all over the world' specifically to compete in sports, there is most definitely international politics at work. And that is just a shame, when the sports should be the focus.Â
Contrary to many comments here, nothing has been decided.
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If it matters to you, go to Facebook and vote:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Olympic-Wrestling/140684176096583Â
Â
 a petition here to influence the US Olympic Committee where you also can cast your vote:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitions
Â
or you can B & moan....choice is yours.
We that wrestled or those that at least appreciate the sport would also really appreciate 2 minutes of your time.
Thank's.
Â
I did not even watch the last Olympics nor do I care to now... heck I ditched the tv at home many years ago...professional sports has become more of a competition to what athlete can dope and not get caught the longest... I have been gradually losing the desire to follow much of any sport - the one I still watch I only view over the webcasts and that is the WRC...but even that is watched very seldom but I am still way interested in seeing what is going on occasionally ...
 @Freespeech off topic
What a sad, sad decision. One last reason to stop watching the Olympics. With the rise of MMA and wrestling being a core technique I think this move will come back to hurt them.
OK, we're not going to have wrestling, which goes back to the ORIGINAL Olympic games.... in favor or what?  BMX? Skateboarding? Hacky Sack?
The Olympics have become boring for decades now. Â Once the pro athletes were allowed to play it no longer becomes interesting. Â Tennis is just another stop on the pro circuit. Â Golf is another PGA event. Â Men's basketball is a joke. Â Now they eliminate wrestling while there is a movement to add pole dancing.
Hmmm, guess my presumption that "sport" and amateur tests of skill were the basis of the Olympic games. Television ratings and ticket sales are what determine a 'sport' now? Pretty sure when I look at wrestlers and golfers, it will be obvious which ones are athletes.
While I see what you are getting at, I don't agree with your statement  "when I look at wrestlers and golfers, it will be obvious which ones are athletes."
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I would consider golfers athletes only because of your previous statement of "tests of skill". Â Sure, they aren't built like a heavyweight wrestler but they do master the test of skill that you mentioned. Â What is your opinion of archery and skeet shooting? Â I don't see a physical difference between them and golfers.
Â
But like I stated in my own post, golf will be just another stop of the PGA tour.
...and they keep trampoline in the games? When did that even become a "sport"?...I always thought it was something for fun and to get you on an episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos".
Golf and field hockey get to stay but wrestling, one of the original sports, gets the hoot?
Â
Never watching Olympics again.
None of this matters. The only "sport" they'll televise is beach volleyball. The Olympics ceased being relevant and entertaining 20 years ago.
I would have thought that wrestling, with the participants relying on nothing more than the human body and their learned technique, would be more relevant to the Olympic ideal than some folks carrying titanium drivers and sand wedges. Sorry, but this is yet another IOC fail.
Â
Mike
Thank Goodness it wasnât synchronized swimming that was eliminated! Â After all why keep Wrestling, a carryover sport from the ancient Olympic Games when we can experience the thrill of Golf?
I am an avid golfer. Love the game. But... an Olympic sport? Not at the mercy of wrestling. It is an original competition. Speechless. I love to watch wrestling. Also... those vying to be included? Wakeboarding? Roller Sports and rock climbing? If they want to remove something... how about synchronized swimming? Or the tumbling with a stinkin' ribbon or hula-hoop. Really!!
GOLF! Golf is more a sport than wrestling? Wrestling has been around since ... well ... since the beginning, it's kind of how it all started. But golf, what's next, women's hair design? "We have to appeal more to the women," or some such nonsense. I'm all for change and being current, I'm glad they spend that time trying to re-invent themselves to the masses but at some point you need to remember your core and what that means - the Olympics are about fitness and perfection of the human form in the physical sense, riding around in a little mini-car on freshly clipped grass sipping drinks and hitting a tiny ball now and then does not sound like the perfect form of fitness or human physical perfection....
Remove wrestling for golf. Nice one... now we will be able to watch 24 hour coverage of golf and swimming. *sigh*