This is completely insane. They had wrestling at the first Olympic games. Wrestlers are some of the toughest, hardest working athletes in all of sports, and now they can't compete at the Olympics. Ping-pong, but no wrestling. Pentathlon(nobody even knows what the (*)(*)(*)(*) that is), but no wrestling. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-400_162-57568859/wrestling-dropped-from-2020-olympics-in-surprise-move/
I was blown away when I read this too. The toughest, oldest Olympic sport being dropped for golf, a 'sport' that you can smoke cigarettes during and be successful. It's a joke.
it's a cash/popularity issue...wrestling draws few viewers and sponsors...the IOC has noticed the popularity of the XGames moved to adopt more popular events...it's unfortunate I consider wrestling one of the original pure events I'd sooner see Equestrian (where the real athlete is the horse)events dropped but the wealthy elite who cherish it have enormous financial clout and influence. Or even a number of superfluous swimming events, do we really need breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly events? Isn't freestyle the fastest stroke, isn't being the fastest the entire point, it's like having 100, 200, 400 meter hopping/running backward/skipping events alongside the sprint.
I'm still waiting for Beer Pong to be sanctioned, where my skill set can be realized in the Olympics.
Wrestling, one of the earliest and most elemental Olympic sports, was dropped from the Summer Games on Tuesday in a stunning and widely criticized decision by the International Olympic Committee. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/s...op-wrestling-in-2020.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 A very strange resolution. Something wrong with guys from IOC
I don't question the athleticism of wrestling but unless you're really familiar with the sport it sucks to watch, I watch it and I see two competitors scrambling around doing very little, the average viewer like me doesn't appreciate the subtleties of the sport, it lacks drama for the casual viewer...and as the Olympics has evolved from pure athleticism into TV entertainment it's not surprising to see why it happened...most people also don't understand the complexities of boxing but there is drama the casual viewer enjoys even if they have no clue what's actually going on...
From a past life, I recall wrestling being the most rigorous sport because you have to diet like a freak to make sure that you are the strongest in your weight class to bull people around. I'm sure mixed martial arts will be open for consideration soon. Wrestling is still more or less a fundamental sport like Track and Field so it is surprising to see it eliminated.
It's probably a money thing and no longer a sport thing. I often wonder how the Olympics can be viewed as showcasing the best in sports when some of the events are based on subjective judging diving gymnastics skating synchronized swimming etc
Absolutely. It would be better if IOC will drop itself by 2020. Their latest initiatives showed that IOC needs reform.
The Indian sport ministry : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/wrestling/Sports-Ministry-writes-to-IOC-to-review-decision-on-wrestling/articleshow/18593527.cms
Top Bulgarian wrestler Valentin Yordanov to return Olympic gold to IOC. http://espn.go.com/olympics/wrestli...ntin-yordanov-return-olympic-gold-ioc-protest Russia's Sagid Murtazalie, following the lead of Bulgarian champion Valentin Yordanov, has also returned his gold medal to the IOC http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/27/another-wrestler-returns-his-gold-to-ioc/related/
If they have synchronized swimming, but not wrestling, at what point is it no longer even the Olympics anymore? What's next - dropping the track and field events and replacing them with frisbee golf and hackysack? Talk about losing sight of your own identity.
wrestling is gone, but crap like curling will stick around. because you know nothing screams "olympic" like pushing a rock on some ice and sweeping with a broom.
