Thursday, May 23, 2013

Wrestling may not be dead after all

Should a wrestler fight a wushu-er for inclusion in the Olympics?
I'm not talking about the theater involving 'roided up guys in speedos yelling into cameras and hitting each other with folding chairs.  I'm referring to the actual sport of wrestling that goes back to the ancient Greeks and the very first Olympic Games.  In February the IOC (International Olympic Committee) announced that they would be eliminating wrestling from the games in 2020.

I'm not a wrestling fan.  I couldn't care less about it.  But I thought it was a terrible decision by the IOC to drop it, because an Olympic gold medal is the greatest possible achievement in that sport.  In some Olympic events the athletes competing have greater goals in mind, and those sports are less deserving.

Today IOC President Jacques Rogge said that wrestling's governing body has "made the necessary changes" to potentially save it's place in the Olympics.  Wrestling is now competing with squash, baseball/softball, "roller sports," karate, wushu (another martial art), and wakeboarding for a spot in the games in 2020 and going forward.  This should be a tough battle; to me nothing says "Olympics" like wushu and wakeboarding.

 

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