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Wrestling dropped from 2020 Olympics Published February 12, 2013 Associated Press
London Olympics Opening Ceremony
London greeted the world in a celebration of Old England that was stunning, imaginative, whimsical and dramatic -- and cheeky, even featuring a stand-in for Queen Elizabeth II parachuting with James Bond into Olympic Stadium. Moments later, the 86-year-old monarch herself stood solemnly while a children's choir serenaded her with "God Save the Queen," and members of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force raised the Union Jack.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – IOC leaders have dropped wrestling for the 2020 Games in a surprise decision to scrap one of the oldest sports on the Olympic program.
The IOC executive board decided Tuesday to retain modern pentathlon -- the event considered most at risk -- and remove wrestling instead from its list of core sports.
The decision, announced by the IOC, was first reported by The Associated Press.
The IOC board acted after reviewing 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.
Wrestling, which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events, goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.
Wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at last year's London Olympics.
Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single opening in 2020.
The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC general assembly in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games. Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The IOC program commission report analyzed more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.
Previously considered under the closest scrutiny was modern pentathlon, which has been on the Olympic program since the 1912 Stockholm Games. It was created by French baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement.
Modern pentathlon combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting -- the five skills required of a 19th century cavalry officer. The sport's governing body, the UIPM, has been lobbying hard to protect its Olympic status, and the efforts apparently paid off.
UIPM President Klaus Schormann had considered traveling from Germany to Lausanne for the decision, but decided to stay away.
"The Olympic movement always needs history," Schormann told the AP ahead of the IOC decision. "You cannot just say we look only at the future. You can have a future when you are stable on the basic part of history. We are continuing to develop, to renovate, to be innovative and creative. We are very proud of what we achieved so far and want to deliver this as well for the next generations in 2020."
I guess they had to make room for more competitive badmitton.
Wait they're dropping wrestling for golf? GOLF IS NOT A SPORT!
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/02/12 12:43:53
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
But the ioc is more about building mobuments to its own glory than sports.
More to the point, they want to show others they hold the power to delegate host cities and decide which sports stay or go. My goodness, the Olympics lasts weeks; they should have room for all the relevant sports their structure.
rockerbikie wrote: Wrestling has been done in Ancient Greece Olympics, it was stupid for removing it.
I know in the Yankee land wrestling is a big deal high school sport. Golf aint.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
I have no outstanding love for the Olympics but removing a fundamental like wrestling is silly. As has been said, wrestling dates back to the ancient Greek games. That alone should qualify it for life. Replacing it for golf is a bad move.
Veteran Sergeant wrote:If 40K has Future Rifles, and Future Tanks, and Future Artillery, and Future Airplanes and Future Grenades and Future Bombs, then contextually Future Swords seem somewhat questionable to use, since it means crossing Future Open Space to get Future Shot At.
Polonius wrote:I categorically reject any statement that there is such a thing as too much boob.
Coolyo294 wrote:Short answer: No.
Long answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Snrub wrote: I have no outstanding love for the Olympics but removing a fundamental like wrestling is silly. As has been said, wrestling dates back to the ancient Greek games. That alone should qualify it for life. Replacing it for golf is a bad move.
Its because ordinance is still a word.
However, firing ordinance at someone isn't nearly as threatening as firing ordnance at someone.
Ordinance is a local law, or bill, or other form of legislation.
Ordnance is high caliber explosives.
No 'I' in ordnance.
Don't drown the enemy in legislation, drown them in explosives.
Snrub wrote: I have no outstanding love for the Olympics but removing a fundamental like wrestling is silly. As has been said, wrestling dates back to the ancient Greek games. That alone should qualify it for life. Replacing it for golf is a bad move.
Agreed.
Wrsetling is actually one of the few sports I try to catch when watching the Olympics. It sure isn't freaking shuttlecock.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
I'd also like to see welly wanging as an international sport too. For some reason we only ever did that one at sports day at my school when I was a kid...
Its because ordinance is still a word.
However, firing ordinance at someone isn't nearly as threatening as firing ordnance at someone.
Ordinance is a local law, or bill, or other form of legislation.
Ordnance is high caliber explosives.
No 'I' in ordnance.
Don't drown the enemy in legislation, drown them in explosives.
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
Maybe they're just adding "Bear" or "Mud" onto the front of the word. We can hope.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
DaNewBoy wrote: Wrestling is the most homoerotic sport in history.... perhaps that has something to do with this move?
GW Rules Interpretation Syndrom. GWRIS. Causes people to second guess a rule in a book because that's what they would have had to do in a GW system.
SilverMK2 wrote: "Well, I have epilepsy and was holding a knife when I had a seizure... I couldn't help it! I was just trying to chop the vegetables for dinner!"
rockerbikie wrote: Wrestling has been done in Ancient Greece Olympics, it was stupid for removing it.
That's what I was thinking. It's one of the sports from ancient times, I can't believe they'd cut it.
I haven't seen it, but that modern pentathlon sounds like it could be pretty cool too. It's nice they didn't cut it, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd think wrestling would be better to keep just for historical purposes.
It's quite telling that it seems to be mostly the Americans who are bothered by this. No-one else really does Greco-Roman wrestling to the same extent, do they?
On the rare occasions I've met someone who's been into it, it's always seemed a bit silly and wannabe-American to me, like those Brits who are into American Handegg.
