But they could get rid of some of the really dumb stuff like ribbon dance and ball toss and catch in the rhythmic gymnastics lump .
heck, I’d even get rid of synchronized swimming if it wasn’t so funny to watch…
wrestling? wtf is wrong wit these IOC dunderheads?
it’s just bizarre - wrestling was one of the events at the ancient games and is one of the pillars of combat sports; just don’t get it…
I’m shocked
Being a former epee fencer, I’ve been expecting pentathlon to be cut every year. Never wrestling.
@DJ: I love rhythmic gymnastics. It’s one of my fav events.
I like floor gymnastics.
Never was a fan of the rhythmic stuff.
Way too girly girl for me. 
You don’t like girls?
Not even uber flexible athletic girls? 
I like rhythmic gymnastics because its interaction with an inanimate tool, which I can analog to weapons practice. How much different is a ribbon from a long tasseled sword? It really appeals to the Jackie Chan side of me, to be able to make the inanimate animate, like Fred Astaire and a coat rack.
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;1211029]But they could get rid of some of the really dumb stuff like ribbon dance and ball toss and catch in the rhythmic gymnastics lump .
heck, I’d even get rid of synchronized swimming if it wasn’t so funny to watch…
wrestling? wtf is wrong with these IOC dunderheads?[/QUOTE]
God only knows. I can’t think of a more universal and authentic expression of individual human competition than the grappling arts. Maybe wrestling doesn’t have enough entertainment value. By that standard they should dump it all in favor of video games. :mad:
Yeah dropping wrestling makes no sense
NYT coverage gives a good overview on what’s happening here
Olympics Moves to Drop Wrestling in 2020
By JERÉ LONGMAN
Published: February 12, 2013 228 Comments
Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling will be contested at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but they will be excluded from the 2020 Summer Games, for which a host city has not yet been named, the Olympic committee said Tuesday.
The decision to drop wrestling was made by secret ballot by the committee’s 15-member executive board at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The exact vote and the reasons for the decision were not given in detail.
There is a chance that the Olympic committee can reverse that decision in May, when it considers a 26th sport to add to the 2020 Games. A final decision will be made in September, but wrestling’s Olympic future seems doubtful, said veteran observers of the Games.
In recent years the I.O.C. has expressed concern about the size of the Summer Games and wanted to cap the number of athletes at about 10,500. It has also said it wants to enhance its modernity by drawing younger viewers among the international television audience. On Tuesday the Olympic committee said in a statement that it wanted to ensure that it remained “relevant to sports fans of all generations.”
Olympic-style wrestling, with its amateur roots and absence of visibility except during the Games, lacks superstars with widespread international acclaim like Lionel Messi in soccer, Kobe Bryant in basketball and Tiger Woods in golf. And the popularity of Olympic-style wrestling in the United States is far surpassed by the staged bombast of professional wrestling.
Sports like snowboarding have been added to the Winter Games to broaden the audience. Golf and rugby will be added to the 2016 Rio Games. Among the sports that wrestling must compete with for future inclusion are climbing, rollerblading and wakeboarding.
The committee might also have grown frustrated that Greco-Roman wrestling did not include women, experts said. Women began participating in freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Athens Games.
Politics also play an inevitable role in the workings of the International Olympic Committee. Among the sports surviving Tuesday’s vote was modern pentathlon, also threatened and less popular internationally than wrestling. But modern pentathlon, a five-event sport that includes shooting, horseback riding and running, was invented by Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Games. And it is supported by Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., son of the former Olympic committee president and a member of its board.
Mark Adams, a spokesman for the Olympic committee, told reporters in Lausanne that Tuesday’s vote was a “process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics.” He also said: “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.”
Wrestling’s world governing body, known by its initials as FILA and based in Switzerland, said it was “greatly astonished” by Tuesday’s decision and would take “all necessary measures” to persuade the Olympic committee to keep the sport in the Summer Games.
The dropping of wrestling faced immediate and widespread criticism.
“I think this is a really stupid decision,” the Olympic historian David Wallechinsky said. Wrestling, he said, “was in the ancient Olympics.” He added: “It has been in the modern Olympics since 1896. In London 29 different countries won medals. This is a popular sport.”
Wrestling seemed in many ways to be the perfect Olympic sport. It is as fundamental as running; held in 180 countries, including the United States, Russia, India and Iran; and contested in a small area that is easily followed on television. And the Olympics are wrestling’s ultimate competition, which is not the case in sports like soccer and basketball.
“When you think of the Olympics you think of wrestling,” said Cael Sanderson, the wrestling coach at Penn State and a 2004 Olympic champion. “It was a marquee event in ancient Greece and in the modern Games. After running, it was the next sport to be part of the Games. Like track and field, the Olympics are the highest level. Some sports, it’s just not as special.”
The dropping of wrestling delivered another blow to the United States, which recently lost medal chances in baseball and softball, which have also been dropped from the Olympics. American wrestlers won more than 100 medals in the Summer Games.
“I don’t think anybody thought this would happen,” said Rulon Gardner, who won a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Sydney Games and a bronze at the 2004 Athens Games. “It’s a shame. This is one of the original sports. It’s been around for thousands of years. The Olympic movement has gone astray. It’s moving in the direction not of history but of ratings. Is it about mainstream and money, or is it about amateur sports competing at the highest level on the world stage?”
Some wrestling officials said that FILA, wrestling’s world governing body, needed to change the sport quickly to retain any chance of future inclusion in the Olympics. Modern pentathlon, for instance, has reduced its competition from four or five days to one day.
“We need to make some drastic changes in the sport, make it more attractive, especially for TV audiences,” Mikhail Mamiashvili, president of the Russian wrestling federation and an 1988 Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman competition, told Reuters.
Michael Novogratz, the team leader for the United States freestyle team at the London Games, said wrestling lacked influence with the Olympic committee’s executive board, where power is concentrated in Western Europe. Wrestling is more popular in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.
“This wasn’t a decision of thought; this was a decision of friends,” said Novogratz, who is the chairman of the United States Wrestling Foundation and a principal and member of the board of directors of the Fortress Investment Group.
Novogratz also said that FILA had “dropped the ball and did not do a good enough job selling the merits of wrestling to the I.O.C.” He said, though, that he expected a “loud and aggressive response” from the international wrestling community.
“I know that wrestling is a strong sport around the world,” said Bruce Baumgartner, a two-time Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling who is now the athletic director at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. “It’s not just the U.S. and Russia. It’s a confusing, sad day for me. But I’ve been around the Olympic movement for a long time. It’s not over till it’s over.”
While wrestling remains popular at the high school level in the United States, and had added teams at the Division II and Division III college level in recent years, it has struggled at the Division I college level with budget constraints and what some supporters say are requirements for gender equity. Loss of Olympic participation would hurt the financing for USA Wrestling, the national governing body, and undoubtedly send the sport into decline.
“When you have your Super Bowl every four years, if you take that away, that’s a scary thing,” said Sanderson, the Penn State coach and former Olympic champion.
Personally, I think it has something do to with the Pope resigning. Take that where you will…
If rollerberby or karate pushes out wrestling, I will never watch the Olympics again…!!!
Sacrificing an ancient sport to accommodate some newschool popular “let’s attract the kids” hustle is ridiculous. The olympics were nearing joke status as it was, now this stuff… Boooo…!!!
Golf did wrestling in. It boggles the mind.
What’s next? Darts, pool and bowling? Maybe we can dump swimming, gymnastics and boxing to make room. :rolleyes:
Fuck the olympics.
WTF??
Wrestling is one of the original sports.
There are so many things in the olympics which shouldn’t be there because they are really niche things that you need a lot of equipment to practice and most people have never even had a chance to try. Things like that should be cut because there are so few people who do them, they are not olympic. But wrestling??
You can practice that in your living room for gods sake. I agree with trimming olympics down to its base sports, sports everyone can do so you really get the worlds most impressive athletes because there is a lot of competition. But wrestling is one of those.
[QUOTE=RenDaHai;1211220]WTF??
Wrestling is one of the original sports.
There are so many things in the olympics which shouldn’t be there because they are really niche things that you need a lot of equipment to practice and most people have never even had a chance to try. Things like that should be cut because there are so few people who do them, they are not olympic. But wrestling??
You can practice that in your living room for gods sake. I agree with trimming olympics down to its base sports, sports everyone can do so you really get the worlds most impressive athletes because there is a lot of competition. But wrestling is one of those.[/QUOTE]
Word…!!!
At least keep the basics. I agree less/cheaper/accessible is better. Mos def more inclusive, and I mean that is the point here isn’t it? Almost everyone can swim, run, jump, wrestle etc. We should at the very least keep the basics.
WTF is up with even considering things like rollerderby?
This would be so embarrassing..
…but it is a possibility…:o
Will Wushu Replace Wrestling in 2020 Olympic Games?
By Melissa Siegel - Posted: 02/12/13 04:13PM EST
Wrestler Rulon Gardner, bottom, competes at the 2004 U.S. National Wrestling Championships. Gardner won a gold medal in the sport at the 2000 Olympics. (Photo: Creative Commons)
The martial art wushu could replace wrestling in the 2020 Olympics.
According to Reuters, the International Olympic Committee made the surprising decision to cut wrestling from the 2020 games. Per CNN, wrestling was part of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and has been included in all but one Summer Olympics since.
“This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said, per Yahoo Sports. “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 (other) 25 core sports.”
According to the Telegraph, wrestling was eliminated from the Olympics because organizers felt it was not as exciting to watch on television as some other sports. Plus, other events that were thought to be in danger, like taekwondo and the modern pentathlon, ran strong lobbying campaigns in favor of keeping their sport around.
Despite Tuesday’s ruling, wrestling will be contested at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. There is also a chance it could be reinstated as an Olympic sport before the 2020 games.
The Associated Press reports that wrestling will now join seven other sports that will need to apply for inclusion in the 2020 games. Those events are baseball/softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.
The IOC will then meet in May to narrow down the list, with the final vote coming at the IOC general assembly meeting in September.
Wushu is perhaps the least known of those sports, at least in the United States. According to the Stanford University Wushu Club, the word literally translates as military art, or the art of fighting. For years the term was interchangeable with “kung fu,” but in recent years wushu has become synonymous with performance and sport, while kung fu emphasizes actual fighting.
Wushu has also been competed on the national stage. It has been a medal event in the Asian Games since 1990. In addition, World Wushu Championships have been held in each of the past 11 years.
According to the International Wushu Federation website, wushu taolu, or competitive wushu, involves “fighting” movements" between a pair of people. The sport is split up into several events, including swordplay, spearplay, and three separate styles of boxing.
While it’s unknown whether Wushu will take wrestling’s place in 2020, it seems unlikely that the latter sport will be reinstated so soon after it was cut. Thus, fans may have to get used to seeing a new sport at the Olympic games.
If wrestling goes than it is quite obvious that no sport is safe.
According to the Stanford University Wushu Club, the word literally translates as military art, or the art of fighting. For years the term was interchangeable with “kung fu,” but in recent years wushu has become synonymous with performance and sport, while kung fu emphasizes actual fighting.
Now if we could just get that definition of Kung Fu to catch on…
Wrestling is so obviously the deserving sport out of the 8 contenders. Why would we need Karate when Tae Kwon Do is in the Olympics? Roller sports??? Really? We got gymnastics, who needs Wushu? 
It looks like everyone in that pic just received word of wrestling being cut over the PA system. 
I gotta agree, wrestling being cut is ridiculous. I would believe silly decisions like this come down to money, especially as far as golf replacing it is concerned. I would think there’s a lot more advertising to be sold during a game of golf (though I have no idea if/how individual games affect advertising in the Olympics). Just a shot in the dark, though, I rarely have any idea what I’m talking about.
I did a lot of research on the Olympics when wushu made its 2008 bid
A goodly chunk of my initial research (now very dated) was contained in China Gets the Gold! The Beijing Olympics by Gene Ching & Andy Ching, published online over a decade ago. There are so many misconceptions about the Olympics and how it all works.
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1211280]If wrestling goes than it is quite obvious that no sport is safe.[/QUOTE] No sport has ever been safe. You’re dealing with world class competitors from a very disparate array of sports, each jockeying to grab some spotlight for their event. Competitive? You know it.
[QUOTE=Punch.HeadButt;1211293]I would think there’s a lot more advertising to be sold during a game of golf (though I have no idea if/how individual games affect advertising in the Olympics). [/QUOTE] True for the US, UK and Japan perhaps, but you must consider that the Olympics is international so there are many games that are popular in other regions. The Olympics is the ultimate international competition - each nation focuses on its own fav sports. The advertising money has got to be totally crazy. Imagine how many factors you’d have to take into account internationally.
Note that Wrestling may still have a chance. This decision, to my understanding, isn’t final yet.
Why you all hating on roller derby?
True for the US, UK and Japan perhaps, but you must consider that the Olympics is international so there are many games that are popular in other regions.
Well sure, and ideally it’d be great for every region to have equal pull. But I’m forced to believe the more wealthy any given region is, the more pull it has with the IOC.
I’m not basing that on any concrete knowledge as to the inner workings of that organization, obviously. It’s all speculation on my part.
The only problem is that roller derby chicks, for the most part, do not look like that. There are some pretty serious roller derby teams in this city and for the most part, those chicks are a bit…dykish..or just hardcore angry man haters…don’t get me wrong, there are some cute derby girls, but they are the minority.
look for yourself spot the diamonds in the rough.