IOC to Drop Olympic Wrestling starting in 2020

The IOC is like the NCAA - clowns - old men collecting money off the sports/work of others. No one checks these fools

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/ioc-drops-wrestling-2020-olympics-18473870

How in the world do they consider dropping wrestling from the Olympics??:huh

Just madness, Wrestling is the essence of the Olympics.

I urge all to contact their Olympic organizations & any others that you deem can reverse this craziness!

The International body for wrestling is FILA - fila@fila-wrestling.com

USA Wrestling @ rbender@usawrestling.org

USOC @ communications@usoc.org

PLEASE Email - call - send smoke signals

Thank U

Saw this news earlier and have been depressed ever since. I would never have thought that this would even be a possibility. I don't expect most people to understand, but for me at least, this is some of the worst news I have heard in years. Reading on some other sites about this, it smacks of corruption at the highest level of olympic supervision and control. However, no one should find THAT surprising, corruption has been part of the IOC for all of its existence. All anyone has to do is look at the individual's that make up the IOC, their personal athletic experiences, and the countries they represent, and you can guess what type of "sports" they will support for future Olympics. The IOC has been a joke for years and IMO this is just further justification for a complete shakeup in the whole organization.....they should be ashamed of themselves.

http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/12/ioc-drops-wrestling-from-2020-olympics/related/

"However, the decision isn’t quite final. Wrestling, which includes both Greco-Roman and freestyle disciplines, will now be thrown in against the other seven sports vying for a single spot in the 2020 Games schedule: baseball/softball, squash, wushu, roller sports, karate, sport climbing, and wakeboarding. A final vote will happen among the full IOC leadership at a meeting in Buenos Aires this September."

I can see wrestling getting back in during the final vote.

Very sad news.

Hmmmmm.

Athletics (track and field), swimming, gymnastics, and equestrian are all considered "core sports" by the IOC. Yet, even though all of these "sports" have several different "events" they are all just considered one "sport" each.

Why is it that wrestling, judo, tekwando, karate, and wushu are all considered to be separate "sports" and not just different "events" within one core "sport"....the martial arts?


The IOC is a joke.....a bad one.

IMO- Freestyle wrestling is still one of the purest and most entertaining sports in the Olympics.

Greco Roman wrestling...not so much.

seems kinda stupid......

Ridiculous! Synchronized swimming in, Wrestling out!

Wrestling was the first Olympics. Now it is out? Obama sucks.

Oh yeah, and GR rocks. Real men, real throws.

outraged over this

Shocked is the best word I can find to describe what I am feeling. By my screen name, you can tell I am into the sport a bit. My middle son is wrestling in college on a full ride scholarship. He was also a national Greco runner up and a freestyle all american in his schoolboy days. I am a mat official and a coach. My oldest wrestled in college and is now an mma fighter. My youngest wrestled up until he hurt his knee last season. He now races MX.

Being in Colorado Springs with the OTC in my back yard, I get an up close view of some of the best talent in the world. Freestyle Gold medalist Henry Cejudo went to the same high school as my sons. He comes back and visits all the time.

I still cannot believe how back handed and politically motivated this travesty was. FILA, the governing body of wrestling world wide was caught with their pants down on this. How on earth do you drop the founding sport from the Olympic Games? In a secret vote? No one knew about this?

I know FILA and the IOC are as corrupt as Chicago politics, but wrestling? How about dropping syncronized badminton or the 5k molly flogging?

There have been a few statements from the OTC and USA Wrestling yesterday and today, but none of them really are saying anything other than condemning the decision. Here's a couple of issues that have been raised by wrestling community.

1) Iran is pissed. Wrestling is to Iran as the NFL is to the USA. They have already begun jumping in the face of the IOC. A pissed off Iran is not good for the IOC. They may bomb the embassy....literally.

2) Russia is even more pissed. Wrestling in Russia is like soccer in England. They live and breathe the stuff. Their top wrestlers earn in the $500k - $1m range to wrestle. Seriously, Michael Jordan type money. The meeting where the IOC and FILA will decide officially to drop wrestling is being held in St Petersburg, Russia. Other than Des Moines, Iowa during the NCAA D1 Championships, you could not hold this meeting in an area where there are more wrestling fans. And they are pissed off. They WILL riot.

3) Dan Gable is launching an attack against the IOC and FILA to get wrestling reinstated. Dana White and the UFC are also involved. Most if not all the UFC athletes have wrestling backgrounds. NFL players are outraged. The Falcons Roddy White (2x state champion) is all over it.

Right now it looks like the IOC has a fight on its hands. I don't know if it will help and I don't know if they can get wrestling reinstated. There were a few pages that popped up on Facebook in support of this. One of them had over 500,000 likes in 12 hours. If you want the back pages info, jump on Facebook and give them a like. I am getting updates almost every hour.

I really hope this gets done and soon.

http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/11392

Radio interview with Cael Sanderson. Sums it up pretty well.

+1

I don't like this, but in general, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Let's face it - wrestling really isn't that popular with the general public. But to get rid of it to keep modern pentathlon? C'mon now.

I'm not a wrestling fan, but to me it like Track & Field, Swimming and Gymnastics is a cornerstone event of the olympics. Hell, it and Track & Field were probably all they did in Greece in the BC Olympics.

Makes me sad.

I certainly can understand the fury of the fans.

Yep Fila and the IOC are a bunch of corrupt bastards indeed and have been for a long time. NCAA is taking lessons from them.

Keep wrestling. Get rid of the "Adjective" sports--

Synchronized, Rhythmic, Beach, etc.

Popular is all relative, and your assessment of its popularity is not even correct. Is it as popular in the US, as the "major" sports? Overall no. However, in many parts of the world.....and the Olympics is where the youth of the WORLD are to gather...it is MORE popular than those sports that would be considered "mainstream". In many ways, it and track/field mirror each other. Almost no one, outside of a few areas, in this country attends Track events. However in Europe it is a professional sport, with the best track and field competitors earning millions of dollars. Same is true for wrestling. Even Hockey has until very recently been considered a "regional" sport in the US, and outside of a few nations, realitively speaking, it is not contested at all. There are over TWO HUNDRED nations that have competed in the Olympics in wrestling. It is one of the few sports where a realitively small country, such as Iran, can compete evenly with the larger nations. Or compare it to motorcycle racing. Once again, you will find that it and wrestling, in terms of worldwide popularity, closely mirror each other. Very popular overseas, but not so much in the States. What if the FIA suddenly said that after next year there would be no world championship, no MotoGp or WSB, held? What do you think would be the backlash from that? Yet 99% of Americans would not even notice, or care.

What most who do not follow the sport don't understand is that the Olympics has for decades and decades been considered THE world championship for this sport. You win the Olympics and you are considered the best. I attended the wrestling compition in Atlanta, and I can't tell you how many "world champion" winning wrestler I saw lose, some by big scores! Even though there are world championships held every year, winning at the Olympics is still considered the ultimate test, the ultimate challenge, and the one that wins there is the "best of the best". IMO it is a travesty of justice to have that taken away at this point in its history. It diminishes the games themselves and exposes the power to be as the corrupt, money hungry individuals there are. It is they that have lost the "Olympic ideal". Their decision on this matter will not reflect the value of wrestling, but will instead, expose the depth of their understanding of what it means to be an "Olympian".

Greco

I believe the next meeting to discuss & "finalize" the recommendation is in Sept in Argentina. But it would be great if it were in Russia.

Also most the countries that voted wrestling out suck @ it, so no surprise there. I'm hoping that the outrage over this gets it reversed.

I live in the Lehigh Valley in Pa & wrestling is King here on par with football.

I'm lucky to be 10 minutes from Lehigh University to catch the matches. Big high school matches here can get up to 5k in attendance.

Forza Wrestling




Sent from celly via Tapatalk 2

I think the way it goes is.....

This was the EXCUTIVE committee recommendation to eliminate wrestling, instead of another sport

NEXT, the IOC meets in Russia and will decide which 3 sports of the 7 mentioned, to be considered for inclusion in the 2020 games.....wrestling may still be one of those 3, but it is not guaranteed.

The complete members assembly will meet in Argentina and decide which of the 3 to include. Only 1 will be chosen.

So, the FINAL vote is in SA, but the semi-finals are in Russia. I would expect wrestling to be included in the 3 finalists, but it will take some work to overcome the lobbies of the other sports.

Good article from local paper

http://www.mcall.com/sports/columni...ng-blunder-02132013-20130213,0,1637758.column

Welcome to Pa Wrestling

Its called a Cement Job

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRB6m4VdeJQ

The recent Penn St v Iowa dual was over 15k. They were selling standing room only tickets. Iowa has a true freshman 197lb'er that was my son's team mate and close buddy. They started wrestling together when they were about 5 or 6 years old and graduated high school together. The closest thing to another brother is a training partner.

While wrestling may not have the nationwide appeal of hoops or football, in pockets of the the US, it is THE sport. In certain countries around the world, it is the only sport. It is also the most diverse in terms of medals won. Unlike basketball where the same 3 or 4 teams win every medal, every Olympics.

Someone mentioned the importance of the Olympics to a wrestler vs say....a golfer, a tennis player, or even a soccer (futbol) player. To any of those athletes, the Olympics is just another meet or just another tournament. Would Tiger, Phil, or Rory rather win a gold medal or a green jacket? How about the Williams sisters or Roger Federer? Would they rather win an Olympic gold or a Wimbeldon title?

To wrestlers, it is the pinnacle of the sport. For 4 years you are the baddest on the planet in your weight class. In any other sport, you are just the best athlete that week. At least the Ravens can call themselves the best for at least a few months.