FILA did not fight hard enough to keep its spot on the Olympic card, like the modern pentathlon did.
Walsh said that, “The Olympics is not the grand amateur showcase we hold it as. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that many would find slimy.”
He said that the support for wrestling is undeniable, as the Presidents of both Iran and Russia have spoken on the subject in recent weeks.
Walsh is staying positive and maintains that there is a decent chance wrestling will be back on the Olympic card after 2020.
He says that the sport, in recent weeks, has been taking the right steps to get back into the Games. “Wrestling, by its nature, is a fighting sport. At its core, it’s about doing the right things. ”
Pacific University professor Jules Boykoff said that the cutting of wrestling is “problematic when you believe in the democratization of sports.” He referenced that wrestling is a “sport of the people” as anyone can instantly start wrestling without having to pay a fee or buy equipment.
Boykoff said that the cutting of wrestling “shows that the IOC pretty much does what it wants” and that money matters more to the IOC than does tradtition.
The IOC is committing a crime against itself by cutting a sport that has been on the Olympic card since 700 B.C.
Wrestling is one of the most diverse sports in the nation.
While countries like Iran and Russia are powerhouses, Japan, Cuba, the United States and 24 other countries also received medals in the 2012 games.
Youth wrestling is also one of the biggest sports in the United States with numbers growing as the wrestling heroes of yesterday have children. There has never been a sport where athletes of all types could be competitive. Wrestling gave opportunities to amputees like former NCAA Champion Anthony Robles; and Kyle Maynard, a quadruple amputee who compiled a 35-16 record in his senior year of high school. Wrestlers have been short, tall, light, heavy, blind, deaf, black and white – you name it.
Cutting wrestling from the Olympic card is a travesty and the OIC should be ashamed of itself for parting ways with man’s oldest sport.
If one were to translate the original Greek version of the Olympic Hymn, the line “at running and at wrestling and at throwing” comes up.
Taking wrestling out of the Olympics goes against the Olympics. It’s as simple as that.
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