# Wrestling removed from 2020 Olympics



## onip69

> Wrestling removed from 2020 Olympics
> By Nate Wilcox on Feb 12, 8:07a 283
> 
> 
> 
> The International Olympic Committee has announced its shocking decision to remove wrestling from the 2020 Olympic Games.
> 
> 
> Stephen Wilson of the Associated Press is reporting that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made the shock decision to drop wrestling from the 2020 Olympics. The IOC dropped wrestling rather than the Modern Pentathlon, the sport most had expected to be dropped.
> 
> Wrestling will be able to apply for inclusion in 2020. It will be competing against a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu for a single opening in the 2020 games.
> 
> The modern pentathlon combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting. It was created early in the 20th Century and intended to test the athletic skills needed by a calvary officer at that time.
> 
> "This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told the AP. "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."
> 
> This is a shocking, and potentially devastating, blow to the sport of wrestling, widely regarded as the most ancient sport of human beings and part of the Olympics, both ancient and modern since the beginning.



http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/2/12/3979752/wrestling-removed-from-2020-olympics


----------



## Hammerlock2.0

I don't even... 

Horse riding is not even a sport and even if it were a sport the horses should get the medals.


----------



## Voiceless

I just wanted to post that. It's really a shame! One of the oldest sports to be removed from the Olympics. But they keep sports like Dressage and synchronized swimming (the latter is even violating the Olympic principles of equality, as men are not allowed to participate).


----------



## Dr Gonzo

Hammerlock2.0 said:


> I don't even...
> 
> Horse riding is not even a sport and even if it were a sport the horses should get the medals.


Damn right the horses should get the medals. They do all the work. This is madness. I'm pretty sure wrestling will get included though. 

Wushu? I'd love to see that on the next Olympics. With Todd Kenueke getting gold!:fight01:


----------



## luckbox

Yeah I don't like this at all, I would agree wrestling doesn't really cut it as a spectator sport, but the history of the sport and its ties to the Olympics and ancient greek culture should make it undroppable.


----------



## Roflcopter

Incredible. 


That said, it pretty much guarantees Jordan Borroughs is now going to MMA.


----------



## John8204

*Wrestling Dropped From Olympics*



> LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — An official familiar with the decision says IOC leaders have dropped wrestling from the program for the 2020 Olympics.
> 
> In a surprise decision Tuesday, the offficial tells The Associated Press that the IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon and remove wrestling instead.
> 
> The official spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the decision hadn't been announced yet.
> 
> The IOC board reviewed 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.


Shoot, well there goes MMA's best farm system.


----------



## Stun Gun

Make Karate a damn Olympic sport already. 

And this sucks I love watching Wrestling during the Olympics


----------



## AmdM

How the hell is wrestling out and shooting still in there?
I mean, is shooting a feckin sport?
What a dumb decision omfg

sorry for the dp but i find it pertinent enough to get a bump:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sport...ch-modern-pentathlon-20130212,0,1157345.story


----------



## Voiceless

AmdM said:


> sorry for the dp but i find it pertinent enough to get a bump:
> 
> http://www.latimes.com/sports/sport...ch-modern-pentathlon-20130212,0,1157345.story


Oh man, that makes it even more annoying!



> *Former IOC president's son is modern pentathlon vice president*
> 
> 
> Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. is vice president of the International Modern Pentathlon Union. (Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty Images)
> 
> By Houston Mitchell
> 
> February 12, 2013, 10:44 a.m.
> 
> A lot of people are scratching their head today over the International Olympic Committee's decision to drop wrestling from the Summer Olympics, starting with the 2020 Games.
> 
> The sport many people believed should have been dropped, modern pentathlon, survived. How could this be? Well, this might be a clue:
> 
> Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., the son of the former IOC president, is vice president of the International Modern Pentathlon Union and a 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 Associated Press. “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.”
> 
> Many of the unhappy people don't even know what events make up the modern pentathlon. The sport was created because it features, get this, the skills required of a cavalry officer ... in the 19th century!
> 
> Modern pentathlon combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting and has been a part of the Olympics since 1912.
> 
> At the London Games, athletes from 71 countries competed in wrestling. Athletes from 26 countries competed in modern pentathlon. Isn't worldwide appeal supposed to be one of the factors considered by the IOC?
> 
> And let's not even get started on synchronized swimming.


----------



## Budhisten

Absolute travesty - I don't even know how to respond. Greco-Roman wrestling is the BIRTHPLACE of the god damn Olympics. Screw the IOC, screw them all.


----------



## Life B Ez

Honestly don't care too much, never really watch the Olympics anyway and this gets more guys to MMA faster and younger.


----------



## Hexabob69

This decision really makes no sense, but then again when has a decision made by any officials lately made sense. Truly one of the original olympic sports and taken away. I admit I have not followed last 2 olympics but I was at sea.... I did catch highlight on AFN. But like said above maybe some of these ex-wrestlers will join MMA a bit earlier.


----------



## kantowrestler

The IOC is going to get HELL for this! Wrestling is a staple and unlike the rest of the USA it's highly favored in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. There is no way this will hold permantely!


----------



## K-R Blitz

Common Sense where are you?

Wrestling - a sport used to breed a lot of people into MMA professionals.

Modern Pentathlon - a sport used to test the skills of Calvary officers... Because there are so many of them around.

Personally even though I mainly do karate I hope Wushu is picked as one of the head instructors in the franchise of schools I train at is the Australian National Sanda Coach.


Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


----------



## Ape City

this is a shocking and seemingly corupt move.

Sent from my SGH-I727R using VerticalSports.Com App


----------



## OU

Yeah this kind of thing really makes me sick. Very, very sad. Nothing good can come from this, nothing at all.


----------



## oldfan




----------



## kantowrestler

Who removed that video from youtube? I didn't get a chance to look at it!


----------



## John8204

> At a media scrum today, UFC President Dana White spoke with reporters in London about the recent news of the International Olympic Committee's plans to eliminate wrestling from the Olympic Games in 2020.
> 
> White on the IOC and colleges dropping amateur wrestling programs: "I've been battling this problem for years now. Colleges are dropping it. High schools are dropping wrestling. The problem with wrestling is, it's an awesome base for mixed martial arts, for everything – I mean, I've never wrestled, but what I hear it does to guys that wrestle, it changes peoples' lives. It's this grueling, hard work and dedication – all the things that go in with being a wrestler."
> 
> On the issues of a lack of viewership for amateur wrestling and how he thinks this could one day lead to MMA becoming an Olympic sport: "The problem is nobody wants to watch it. Any sport, especially these days, it's about selling tickets and eyeballs and viewers and all these other things. And there's been a lot of people saying, 'You've got to f---ing do something,' but – and Garry (Cook) and I were talking about this yesterday –what this could be is the evolution of mixed martial arts becoming an Olympic sport. We bring spectators, eyeballs – whether it's TV or whatever it is. This sport draws. Wrestling doesn't. I can't be the guy to run out and try and save wrestling. I've been doing it for years. You know how many wrestling programs I funded over the past five, six years? A lot. Yeah, I don't want to see wrestling go away either. It's such a big part of the sport. But, something's going to happen here. It's going to evolve into mixed martial arts or something. I don't know. I don't think wrestling is going to go anywhere, but competitive wrestling definitely is."


So Dana only cares about the High School/college level, and it does sound like he's going to push for Olympic MMA.


----------



## Hammerlock2.0

Good luck with that. MMA has a media ban in some countries and in other it's still illegal.


----------



## Voiceless

Hammerlock2.0 said:


> Good luck with that. MMA has a media ban in some countries and in other it's still illegal.


Yes and that in big money countries like Germany and France. It doesn't even get sanctioned in NY yet. And the IOC people don't like martial arts in general anyways, so I highly doubt MMA could become Olympic soon.


----------



## OU

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/2/14/3988444/Russian-olympic-coach-gay-blame-wrestling




> "If they expel wrestling now, that means that gays will soon run the whole world," coach Vladimir Uruimagov said, calling the decision "a blow to masculine origins."
> 
> He added: "It turns out this committee is headed by representative of these minorities," clarifying that he meant sexual minorities.
> 
> "It is necessary for millions around the world who understand that this is a man’s sport and who understand the need to continue the human race to go out and explain their position to the Olympic Committee," he said. "We should prove and explain that in any other case there is no future."


----------



## Ape City

This boggles my mind. Really didn't think we would still be having discussions like this by now.


----------



## kantowrestler

Honestly I'm wondering which sports could possibly take it's place considering whom they are going against. Then again the IOC made this dumb bell decision so they may make another one. However I should note that they've added sports back that have been dropped before.


----------



## Hammerlock2.0

OU said:


> crazy homophobic wrestling coach


It's worth it if that guy has to stay home now.


----------



## mmawrestler

kantowrestler said:


> Who removed that video from youtube? I didn't get a chance to look at it!


----------



## Voiceless

Hammerlock2.0 said:


> It's worth it if that guy has to stay home now.


...and considering that bubbling came out of the mouth of someone who teaches men in skin tight clothes to cuddle with other men and pin them on their back...


----------



## OU

Voiceless said:


> ...and considering that bubbling came out of the mouth of someone who teaches men in skin tight clothes to cuddle with other men and pin them on their back...


Hey now, let's not fight homophobia with homophobia. There is nothing erotic about wrestling. It's a beautiful sport. It's a one on one war.


----------



## Voiceless

OU said:


> Hey now, let's not fight homophobia with homophobia. There is nothing erotic about wrestling. It's a beautiful sport. It's a one on one war.


Na, there was no homophobic intent in my statement. As you can see in my first post in this thread, I have nothing against wrestling and I'm annoyed myself that it's going to get removed from the Olympics. But of course wrestling has a homoerotic aesthetic (not to be confused with homosexual), it doesn't make wrestlers nor spectators automatically homosexual though, but it definitely doesn't put that coach in a place to ramble about a homosexual conspiracy.


----------



## kantowrestler

Ok, homophobia aside this is a stupid decision and something tells me it either will not stand or there'll be hell to pay. As I've said it's popular in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. Trying to remove it will bring a united front against the IOC.


----------



## OU

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/5/28/4372662/olympic-wrestling-needs-twitter-followers-IOC

follow https://twitter.com/fila_official


----------



## kantowrestler

I hope the recent rule changes Fila made to Olympic wrestling will help.


----------



## M.C

Hmm... on one hand I understand this is nonsense and should not be happening, on the other I really don't care about the Olympics so I don't really "care" as much as sympathize with those who do.


----------



## kantowrestler

We'll take sympathy over non participation any day!


----------



## Ape City

even when i was a kid i was always confused about why the olympics mattered. back then if you played anything professionally you couldn't compete. So it was like "yay we won a gold in hockey" but all the best players didn't play. At least it's a little better now in terms of that, but it's stuff like this that makes me wanna say "screw the olympics"!


----------



## Sportsman 2.0

Hammerlock2.0 said:


> I don't even...
> 
> Horse riding is not even a sport and even if it were a sport the horses should get the medals.





Tyson Fury said:


> Damn right the horses should get the medals. They do all the work. This is madness.



Wow wow wow, guys. I got it. It is a pain for Wrestling lovers and I hope they revert this decision, but those quotes about horse riding are waaay off. Equestrian sports are, more than anything, a "team work" and horse and rider practice a lot together to make it happen.
The TEAM is considered the winner, the horse name is aways up there and those horses are admired and compensated better than many humans, that being an understatement.


----------



## Life B Ez

MMA-Sportsman said:


> Wow wow wow, guys. I got it. It is a pain for Wrestling lovers and I hope they revert this decision, but those quotes about horse riding are waaay off. Equestrian sports are, more than anything, a "team work" and horse an rider practice a lot together to make it happen.
> The TEAM is considered the winner, the horse name is aways up there and those horses are admired and compensated better than many humans, that being an understatement.


The horses are compensated? What is a horse going to do with money? Or do you mean because they are put out to stud afterwards? 

Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


----------



## Sportsman 2.0

Life B Ez said:


> The horses are compensated? What is a horse going to do with money? Or do you mean because they are put out to stud afterwards?


They eat money. The greener the bills, the better. :sarcastic09:


----------



## kantowrestler

Anyways getting back on topic, wrestling was selected as three finalist sports to get into 2020, the others being baseball/softball and squash. On a good note the baseball/softball federation president is supportive of wrestling's plight.


----------



## Sportsman 2.0

There are groups campaigning for the introduction of *Jiu Jitsu* as an Olympic game for while.
Well, if they are cutting *Wrestling*, I think this quest should be somehow even harder now.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...lian-jiu-jitsu-should-be-in-the-2016-olympics


----------



## kantowrestler

We can only hope that BJJ or MMA will eventually make it in time. For right now we need to fight to keep one of the most ancient sports in the Olympics. Considering the other two finalists I think wrestling has the biggest chance to secure a spot.


----------

