When the 2020 Olympic Games arrive, one of the world's most ancient sports will not be part of the games. Recently, the International Olympic Committee decided that it would recommend that wrestling be removed from the games. Not only was this sport part of the ancient games, it has been part of the modern games since their beginnings in 1896.
While the goal of the committee is to keep the games relevant for the widest majority of sports fan, exclusion of this ancient sport would be a huge loss to members of both the wrestling and mixed martial arts communities. Most high schools and colleges in the United States have wrestling programs, and eliminating this sport from the Olympics removes the pinnacle of competition for these young athletes.
The first Olympic games included athletics, which are just track and field events, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. Rowing and sailing were scheduled but poor weather conditions forced them to be excluded. All of these events except for wrestling are set to be part of the 2020 Olympic Games. It seems curious that all of the original sports save one should be included and somehow the IOC considers something such as fencing or sailing more "relevant" sport than wrestling.
Could there be some better choices to eliminate? Well, let's take a look. We know that all Olympic athletes (at least those who don't cheat) work very hard for their medals. But do we really need to dump wrestling so that we can have Team Handball as a sport? Isn't that basically a playground game? Perhaps we should add dodge ball, four square and jump rope as competitive sports. Again, not to take away from other athletes, but is badminton a sport more worthy of Olympic competition than wrestling? Apparently the IOC believes that badminton is far more relevant, even though they had to throw out players from three different countries during the last Olympics for cheating.
At least handball and badminton are games people around the world can easily learn at little expense. Equestrian sports, on the other hand, require great expense and it's difficult for most people to afford this kind of training. If the IOC wishes to trim down the time constraints of the game, it could also consider making eliminations within some of the core sports. Take swimming and gymnastics, for example, do we really need to have synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics? If you compare statistics in the United States alone, there are 85 NCAA Division 1 collegiate wrestling teams and that's just in division one. For synchronized swimming, there are five colleges with programs. Fencing, which the IOC is keeping, has just 25 Division 1 programs. Clearly, the interest in wrestling is far higher, making it much more relevant.
There is certainly no way for the IOC to ever make everyone happy. Someone's favorite and much beloved sport is always on the chopping block. However, the IOC does need to keep in mind that not only is wrestling highly popular worldwide; it has the history and significance behind it to make it worthy of permanent inclusion at the Olympic Games.
While the goal of the committee is to keep the games relevant for the widest majority of sports fan, exclusion of this ancient sport would be a huge loss to members of both the wrestling and mixed martial arts communities. Most high schools and colleges in the United States have wrestling programs, and eliminating this sport from the Olympics removes the pinnacle of competition for these young athletes.
The first Olympic games included athletics, which are just track and field events, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. Rowing and sailing were scheduled but poor weather conditions forced them to be excluded. All of these events except for wrestling are set to be part of the 2020 Olympic Games. It seems curious that all of the original sports save one should be included and somehow the IOC considers something such as fencing or sailing more "relevant" sport than wrestling.
Could there be some better choices to eliminate? Well, let's take a look. We know that all Olympic athletes (at least those who don't cheat) work very hard for their medals. But do we really need to dump wrestling so that we can have Team Handball as a sport? Isn't that basically a playground game? Perhaps we should add dodge ball, four square and jump rope as competitive sports. Again, not to take away from other athletes, but is badminton a sport more worthy of Olympic competition than wrestling? Apparently the IOC believes that badminton is far more relevant, even though they had to throw out players from three different countries during the last Olympics for cheating.
At least handball and badminton are games people around the world can easily learn at little expense. Equestrian sports, on the other hand, require great expense and it's difficult for most people to afford this kind of training. If the IOC wishes to trim down the time constraints of the game, it could also consider making eliminations within some of the core sports. Take swimming and gymnastics, for example, do we really need to have synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics? If you compare statistics in the United States alone, there are 85 NCAA Division 1 collegiate wrestling teams and that's just in division one. For synchronized swimming, there are five colleges with programs. Fencing, which the IOC is keeping, has just 25 Division 1 programs. Clearly, the interest in wrestling is far higher, making it much more relevant.
There is certainly no way for the IOC to ever make everyone happy. Someone's favorite and much beloved sport is always on the chopping block. However, the IOC does need to keep in mind that not only is wrestling highly popular worldwide; it has the history and significance behind it to make it worthy of permanent inclusion at the Olympic Games.
About the Author:
Rod Bourgoine likes blogging about mixed martial arts advantages. For more information about martial arts San Diego or to find San Diego boxing classes, please go to The Arena MMA site now.
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