The IOC Eliminates Wrestling From The 2020 Olympics

[Ron]

http://deadspin.com/5983637/the-ioc-eliminates-wrestling-from-the-2020-olympics-for-some-reason

Yesterday, members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) convened in order to decide which of the 26 core Olympic sports would be dropped from the 2020 summer games in order to make room for the inclusion of a new sport.

Not like there is any history of wrestling in the Olympics or anything.

 

[SADShooter]

Further undermining for me the credibility of the whole exercise. Geesh.

[Ron]

At first I thought it was an Onion headline!

[vaskidmark]

I'm seriously surprised they did not exchange Greco-Roman for Mud.

stay safe.

[makattak]

But we can all breath a sigh of relief. They are keeping Field Hockey. (No, this is also not a joke.)

[RevDisk]

IOC is a joke. And I seriously question where all that loot is going...

[Ron]

FILA didn't bribe the right folks or anyone apparently.

When something doesn't make sense, follow the money.

FILA was greatly astonished by today's recommendation of the IOC Executive Board not to maintain wrestling among the 25 core sports for the 2020 Olympic Games. FILA will take all necessary measures to convince the IOC Executive Board and IOC members of the aberration of such decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games. FILA has always complied with the IOC regulations and is reprensented in 180 countries, with wrestling being the national sport in a fair amount of them and the only possibility for athletes to represent their country at the Olympic Games, thus contributing to their universality.

The FILA Bureau will meet in Phuket (THA) on 16-17 February and will address this issue in view of the presentation of wrestling in front of the IOC Executive Board in St-Petersburg next May.   

http://fila-official.com/

[roo_ster]

What do martial arts have to do with the Olympics anyways?  I, for one, want more hard-hitting events like Transsexual Floor Exercises.

[Hawkmoon]

But we can all breath a sigh of relief. They are keeping Field Hockey. (No, this is also not a joke.)

And Beach Volleyball. Now THERE's a sport that's truly of Olympic calibre.

Morons.

[Gewehr98]

Does that mean brass pole dancing is now on the schedule?

[Stetson]

Now that I am working at the USOC HQ in Colorado Springs, EVERYONE on the floor here was just as surprised. 
Karate, Wushu, and Wakeboarding are supposed to be up for consideration () for the 2020 games.  I;ve heard a rumor that Rugby may be in the mix too. 

Part of it is financial.  No one was buying tickets to see the wrestling and that's where a lot of funding comes from.

[brimic]

We need more subjective events so that everyone can be a winner.

[Blakenzy]

Olympics are about anything but sports. It has become a private-public endeavor to promote corporate commerce and boost national status. One big circus.

[Hawkmoon]

Karate, Wushu, and Wakeboarding are supposed to be up for consideration () for the 2020 games. 

I thought Wushu was a Chinese pork dish ...

[SADShooter]

I thought Wushu was a Chinese pork dish ...

Then, Olympics=pancakes? Count me in!

[Regolith]

But we can all breath a sigh of relief. They are keeping Field Hockey. (No, this is also not a joke.)

And they added GOLF. 

[Nightfall]

Common guys. The brutal, ultra-competitive sport of twirling ribbons to music is still around. How much do we really have to complain about?

[Perd Hapley]

Part of it is financial.  No one was buying tickets to see the wrestling and that's where a lot of funding comes from.

Guess they picked the wrong wrestlers:

[SteveS]

Part of it is financial.  No one was buying tickets to see the wrestling and that's where a lot of funding comes from.

This just isn't a very popular sport.  I have been to a couple of college matches and I would have to say that wrestling is painfully dull for such a physical sport.  In addition, there were only a few dozen people in the audience and this was two Big 10 Universities. 

[Ron]

Then they should add a MMA category, they would get standing room only crowds.

MMA is the evolutionary child of combat grappling.

[HankB]

We need more subjective events so that everyone can be a winner. we can choose the winners ourselves.

FIFY

But at least they'll keep horse dancing.

I'm seriously surprised they did not exchange Greco-Roman for Mud.

Not mud - Jello. Organic and edible. Or maybe whipped cream. As a coed team sport.

[White Horseradish]

Then they should add a MMA category, they would get standing room only crowds.

MMA is the evolutionary child of combat grappling.

Call it Pankration, and you have a ton of historical backing for it, too.

[makattak]

This just isn't a very popular sport.  I have been to a couple of college matches and I would have to say that wrestling is painfully dull for such a physical sport.  In addition, there were only a few dozen people in the audience and this was two Big 10 Universities. 

As opposed to the massive draw of field hockey?

[SteveS]

As opposed to the massive draw of field hockey?

I have never been to a game, so I have no idea. 

[BlueStarLizzard]

I have never been to a game, so I have no idea.  

Athletic woman in short skirts with sticks.

Considering my new appreciation for the sheer violence of water polo (holy hell! They beat the crap out of each other!) I'm guessing that feild hockey could have a similar appeal.

As for drawing crowds and watching paint dry, somehow presicion shooting draws a huge crowd yet I think watching paint dry would be more fun then that, so who knows.