IOC drops wrestling from 2020 Olympics

[Exultant Democracy]

Source: SI.com

In a surprise recommendation, the IOC dropped wrestling from the Olympics beginning in 2020 on Tuesday. According to a Reuters report, the decision was just a recommendation and the sport will have a chance to make it back onto the program when the committee meets in Buenos Aires in September. However, it is unlikely wrestling will be voted back in; a total of seven sports are fighting for one spot....

Other sports considered in the Tuesday recommendation included taekwondo, modern pentathlon and field hockey. According to Olympic sports writer Philip Hersh, financial considerations may have been a more important factor than popularity:

So much for IOC's alleged standard of universality for sports: modern pentathlon had athletes from 26 countries in London; wrestling, 71—
Philip Hersh (@olyphil) February 12, 2013

Read more: http://tracking.si.com/2013/02/12/ioc-drops-wrestling-from-2020-olympics/

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The decline of the Olympics continue. They replace wrestling a sport any kid can learn for practically free, with the modern pentathlon a sport with a $75k starting kit.

[Burma Jones]

1. Uh, I thought this was a joke until I checked.....

That's nuts.

[Exultant Democracy]

7. I thought it was a joke too. Wrestling dropped in favor of modern pentathlon sounds like the Onion.

[actslikeacarrot]

2. yes, lets take out an original sport from the original olympics...

...makes perfect sense. yet ANOTHER reason not to watch the olympics.

edited for clarity.

[LanternWaste]

78. Well, the sheep skull-toss was never instituted in the contemporary games, either.

Well, the sheep skull-toss was never instituted in the contemporary games, either. I imagine that too gives many people a reason not to watch...

Makes perfect sense

[HooptieWagon]

3. Wow.

Wrestling was one of the original Olympic sports. Hard to figure out the logic of that decision. WTF?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

5. Because....

we had to make sure there was room for Olympic Fucking Badminton.

And Olympic Fucking Table Tennis. And Olympic Walking.

Olympic Walking? Seriously? What the fuck is that?

Don't reply - I know what the fuck it is - but how does it constitute an Olympic Sport?

[Rowdyboy]

8. +1000

[Purveyor]

13. Indeed! +1 eom

[KansDem]

14. Don't forget Olympic Fucking Beach Volleyball

________

[Renew Deal]

42. I would agree except Beach Volleyball is one of their most popular events.

What about Handball? Biggest waste of time ever. They already got rid of Baseball, Softball, and Cricket.

[KansDem]

45. Or the Standing Broad Jump or Standing High Jump...

1912 was the last Olympics for both...

Standing Broad Jump
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1900 Paris Ray Ewry (USA) Irving Baxter (USA) Émile Torcheboeuf (FRA)
1904 St. Louis Ray Ewry (USA) Charles King (USA) John Biller (USA)
1906 Athens Ray Ewry (USA) Martin Sheridan (USA) Lawson Robertson (USA)
1908 London Ray Ewry (USA) Konstantinos Tsiklitiras (GRE) Martin Sheridan (USA)
1912 Stockholm Konstantinos Tsiklitiras (GRE)

Standing High Jump
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1900 Paris Ray Ewry (USA) Irving Baxter (USA) Lewis Sheldon (USA)
1904 St. Louis Ray Ewry (USA) Joseph Stadler (USA) Lawson Robertson (USA)
1906 Athens, Intercalated Games Ray Ewry (USA) Léon Dupont (BEL)
Lawson Robertson (USA)
Martin Sheridan (USA)
1908 London Ray Ewry (USA) John Biller (USA)
Konstantinos Tsiklitiras (GRE)
1912 Stockholm Platt Adams (USA) Benjamin Adams (USA) Konstantinos Tsiklitiras (GRE)

Not glamorous enough, I guess...

[Blue_Tires]

51. You take the T+A out of beach volleyball, and see what kind of ratings it pulls...

[HooptieWagon]

17. Yea, there's some odd ones.

Cycling is so scandal-ridden I'm surprised they didn't drop it. Some of the obscure sports are kind of interesting...Curling in the Winter Games is kind of cool. But surely they could have dropped a sport other than one which dates back a few thousand years. Agree, Walking would have been a good one.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

26. Sychronized Swimming

Does that exist anywhere outside of the Olympics?

[AngryAmish]

35. Olympic walking came from pedestrianism

In the dawn of time (late 1800s) there really were not modern track and field. All of that came from the revival of the olympics where there were different length foot races. There was however, pedestrianism where there were contests on who could walk the fastest between towns or on a closed track.

The only sports were horse racing, boxing, cock fighting and things like that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrianism

So when olympics were started they put walking or pedestrianism in there.

now you know...the rest of the story


good day!

[tridim]

52. And Trampoline

I used to be a gymnast and jumped tramp every day, even as a kid I knew it wasn't a sport. Gymnastics sure as hell is though. They'll never get rid of that.

[Posteritatis]

54. The athletes aren't telegenic enough for the broadcast audience, pretty much.

Not that they'll dare come out and say that, but there you go.

[NBachers]

4. I can think of no more direct connection to the original first Olympic games

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

6. Naked Wrestling (nt)

[kentauros]

10. Naked boxing, too.

Even though I hate boxing.

As I recall, all of the original Greek Olympics were performed naked. Of course, it was only for men. Might still be popular if someone started some interest in bringing that style back...

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

11. Defintely popular in the ratings! (nt)

[Art_from_Ark]

69. Well, if it was only naked men,

I doubt it would do much for ratings.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

21. What about dressage? I've heard that Rafalca is an ancient Greek term for

tax write-off.

[AngryAmish]

36. Mixed martial arts were from the first olympics

They called it pankrateon and they would not let the Spartans play since they ended up killing their opponents.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. Breaking: IOC announces it is dropping sports from the Olympics

New York - Citing its long-term television contract with NBC, the International Olympic Committee announced today that all athletic events are being dropped from the 2020 Olympics in favor of soft-focus, human-interest features about the adversities that might have been faced by the athletes had they actually been competing.

"NBC assures us that these features are quite popular with the American audience," said IOC Spokesman Nigel Sneed, "and we're dedicated to ensuring that the Americans have an enjoyable Olympic experience."

Air time between the features will be filled with segments from veteran NBC Sportscaster Bob Costas. In lieu of interviewing actual athletes, Costas will stare quietly at a CGI-generated fireplace in the studio or perhaps read silently to himself.

"We feel that this new approach will be both exciting and economical," Sneed added. "The IOC will no longer be required to transport and house athletes from around the world. In fact, we've already begun selling off our surplus equipment. This is quite a financial bonanza for the IOC."

Used equipment, and what's left of the IOC's integrity, will be auctioned off on E-Bay later this year.

[HooptieWagon]

18. LOL, just turn it into a reality TV show.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

24. The Real Housewives of Sparta (nt)

[Occulus]

41. Did you write that yourself?

If you did.... Dude. Brilliant. Facking brilliant!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

48. *blush*

Aw, shucks....

[radhika]

65. Every athlete profiled either had a dire disease or lost a loved one recently....

Sheesh...

I really would have liked to see more of the less well known, minor interest reports. Every 4 years isn't a lot to ask of sports TV.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. I don't like wrestling but this does seem absurd.

[okwmember]

15. But I'm sure dressage will still be around for Ann to send her horse to.

My husband's theory is that the pony shows are the only way to get a royalty into the Olympics.

[HooptieWagon]

20. I don't really care for it, but Dressage is legit.

The Olympics are basically ancient war games. And Dressage is manuvers that mounted calvary or a knight would execute with his mount. So I give it its historical place.

[Ikonoklast]

16. Television has ruined every sport it has touched. Ruined.

Amateur, professional, doesn't matter.

Once TV gets their hooks into your sport, it is nothing but a way to sell beer to idiots, and your sport is destroyed as it becomes hooked on the ad money.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

19. Wrestling is the original Olympic sport!

Or close to it anyhow........... what are they thinking?

[hedgehog]

22. But boxing remains?

[Nye Bevan]

23. Having been pressured into taking my son to a few WWE events,

I am not convinced that this "sport" is appropriate for the Olympics.

[Purveyor]

27. WWE is not 'wrestling'... eom

[HooptieWagon]

29. Night and day difference

between olympic wrestling and WWE.

[vdogg]

30. Not the same

There is a big BIG difference between WWE, i.e. fake wrestling, and the sport of wrestling itself. As someone tha does submission wrestling/jiu jitsu I can guarantee you that this sport is appropriate for the Olympics. I would actually be ok with this decision so long as they substitute it for one of the other grappling arts. I would really like to see them add Brazillian Jiu Jitsu when the Olympics go to Rio.

[NoGOPZone]

32. You should write for the Onion. nt

[obamanut2012]

58. That isn't wrestling -- good grief

[Nye Bevan]

63. I guess that explains why The Undertaker has never won an Olympic Gold (nt)

[d_b]

66. ohhhhhh yessssss

[Drahthaardogs]

79. You are joking ...right? nt

[SwissTony]

25. Stupid decision.

And not even a fan of wrestling.

One sport I'd like to see dropped is football (soccer) - and I AM a fan of football!!! I'll be watching Celtic vs Juve in just over an hour. And i played for over 40 years. I just find the format so stupid - under 23s with 3 over 23s???? Give me a break.

Soccer has it's own major event - the World Cup. It doesn't need the Olympics.

Plus there is a problem with British participation as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have grave doubts about competing under the flag "Great Britain".

[AngryAmish]

37. Agreed

Golf doesn't belong in there either.

[obamanut2012]

59. That's why I think golf and tennis should be dropped, too

[UnrepentantLiberal]

75. Golf, tennis and basketball with millionaires competing

is as pointless and cynical as it gets.

[loli phabay]

74. im pissed at the cheating of the italians. cant believe their defenders get away with it.

[SwissTony]

76. Are you talking about Celtic v Juve?

I thought some of the refereeing was a joke. I thought Hooper could have sued for sexual harassment but the ref thought "both sides are guilty". And straight after the yellow cards, the Italian was again all over him.

I'm not even a Celtic fan (I support Clyde - how sad is that?)

[loli phabay]

77. lol the bully wee. im a Tim for my sins. still didnt expect to get this far

[FailureToCommunicate]

28. And somewhere Gilgamesh is weeping...

[oberle]

31. Taekwondo

The Olympics have done a lot to ruin taekwondo. Taekwondo was once a decent martial art. Now it is nothing more than a stylized way of fighting that looks positively silly to anyone who does martial arts. It is also a sport totally dominated by South Korea. And I say this as a 25 year practitioner of taekwondo.

[NoGOPZone]

33. The modern pentathlon isn't a 'replacement'

it's been contested for a century now in the Olympics. It simply wasn't the one selected for elimination. The replacement will be whatever one of the seven sports competing for the final spot is.

[obamanut2012]

60. Golf and rugby are teh replacement sports

I don't have a problem with rugby, but golf shouldn't be let in, and tennis should be dropped too imo.

[d_b]

34. gtfo

how the hell do you remove wrestling and keep trampoline and race walking?

[Renew Deal]

43. Trampoline!

Another waste

[obamanut2012]

61. Trampoline and rhythmic gymnastics need to go

Race Walking is a legit track and field sport.

[Lochloosa]

38. Whew...i thought they might drop Golf

[timdog44]

46. I was worried too.

Nice to know a bunch of tax dodging millionaires can compete for a gold medal. Actually, now that I think of it, maybe they should make tax dodging an olympic sport.

[frylock]

39. to be fair, modern pentathalon was one of the original olympic events..

who ever heard of Greco-Roman wrestling anyway?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

49. I would say that both the Greeks and the Roman are familiar with it.

Actually, it's quite well-known in wresting circles, which they may be small, they are friggin' mammouth compared to badminton circles.

[frylock]

50. badminton is the sport of GODS!!1

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

53. Lesser gods, perhaps....

Much, MUCH lesser gods.

[Angleae]

67. Modern pentathalon first appeared in 1912 (Stockholm)

The ancient pentathalon was running/wrestling/long jump/javelin/discus

[indie9197]

40. At least we still have women's beach volleyball

But seriously, wrestling is a major sport right? I know in the US it is. I can think of a lot of other sports that should go first-
golf
english horse events
tennis

[eppur_se_muova]

47. They have to make room for sport climbing and wakeboarding. nt

[obamanut2012]

62. 70+ countries field Olympic teams in wrestling

And, it is a big sport in MANY countries. Quit a few wrestlers have become big MMA fighters (male and female).

[d_b]

44. petition here

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/put-pressure-ioc-overturn-their-decision-drop-wrestling-olympics-2020/ClDPYshl

[rachel1]

55. And yet beach volleyball, synchronized swimming, and equestrianism

will remain instead of a widely-practiced sport dating back centuries?

I thought it was a misprint when I first read the headline.

[Octafish]

56. IOC rhymes with NAZI...

...for a reason:

http://www.reinform.nl/juan-antonio-samaranch-a-fascist-who-moulded-the-olympic-games/

[obamanut2012]

57. Golf in, wrestling out, secret votes and hidden bribes

Par for the course for the IOC.

[Blasphemer]

64. The IOC no longer cares about amateur sports

They want big names from popular professional sports so people will buy tickets and tune in to the games. I feel terribly for the young amateur wrestlers who won't have a shot at Olympic glory when rich pro athletes who care more about their other tournaments and trophies than they do about the Olympics will be able to take home Olympic medals.

[Angleae]

68. They've admitted this years ago when they justified dropping baseball.

Their big hangup was that the "best" baseball players weren't competeing in the olympics because it was during baseball season.

[MrYikes]

70. We will have soon Computer mouse control.

You have to hit 20 icons in 5 seconds. Beer bottle, shoes, bag of chips, etc. Yep it's coming.

[Ash_F]

71. That was the only sport I was any good at.

Mainly because it didn't involve a ball.

What the heck is modern pentathlon? It looks like how rich people get in shape, or train to hunt the deadliest game of all(man).

[happyslug]

73. "Modern Pentathlon" was intended for those people who would have done the Pentathlon in Ancient times

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_pentathlon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_pentathlon

The difference reflects the change between the Infantry heavy armies of Ancient Greece, and the more horse based armies of pre-WWII Europe (Ancient Greece did not even have the Saddle, which did not appear in Europe till at the earliest 200 AD, through the Chinese had a tree based Saddle as early as 200 BC and treeless saddle are known from what is now Siberia from 500 BC. There is picture of Alexander the Great with a "Saddle Blanket", but that could be just a Horse blanket. We have reports from Sparta advocating bare back riding of horses, which would NOT be the case if any form of effective saddles were known to them).

More on Saddles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddle#History_and_development
http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/resources/education/asdp_pdfs/Saddles_Silkroads_Hawaii.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirrup

Notice the modern Saddle, while invented and used during the Classic Age of Greece, was NOT used by the Greeks or anyone in their area till we enter the Roman Imperial period, long after the Ancient Olympic games were already set up.

Modern Pentathlon consist of pistol shooting, fencing, 200 m freestyle swimming, show jumping (with a horse picked at random), and a 3 km cross-country run.

Ancient Pentathlon consist of long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw, followed by the stadion (a short foot race) and wrestling.

Basically, the Ancient Long Jump was replaced by swimming, the Discuss Throw replaced by Pistol Shooting, Javelin throw replaced by Fencing, Wresting replaced by Horse riding and the short foot race replaced by a 3 km Cross country run.

The purpose of the change was to reflect the changes in HOW soldiers operate between the days of ancient Greece and pre-WWII Europe (including the adoption of the Modern Tree based and Stirrup equipped horse and gun powder). A secondary reason was there were NO swimming events in the Ancient Olympics, more do to the lack of any place to swim where the Olympics where held then any other reason.

One last comment, the Modern Pentathlon like the other multiple events have an inherent "honesty" value. The Drugs that enhances someone's ability to run and swim, hurt one's ability to shoot, fence and stay on a horse. The drugs that help someone shoot (and to a lesser extent fence), hurts your ability to swim, run (or even wrestle). Thus it is hard for an athlete to "Cheat" with drugs when it comes to any of the multiple activities events, be it the Pentathlon, the Decathlon or the biathlon.

Thus the main reason the Pentathlon was kept may be do to fact it is one less event the Olympic committee has to worry about cheating with drugs, in addition to its support from Eastern Europe.

The Biathlon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biathlon

The Decathlon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decathlon

[Ash_F]

82. Thanks. So I was somewhat right.

It is about hunting the most dangerous game.

[slackmaster]

81. Me too. In 8th grade I was uncoordinated and could never catch or hit a ball.

The only things I was good at were Greco-Roman wrestling and for some odd reason the standing broad jump.

[NoGOPZone]

72. To those clamoring for the removal of racewalking from the Olympics

Even ignoring that a 50K race is longer than a marathon and covered at a pace your average jogger couldn't run, walking is not a seperate sport but part of Athletics or Track and Field, so even getting rid of the walking events wouldn't make room for Wrestling.

[LiberalFighter]

80. Time to get rid of the Olympics