The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently announced that it would drop a sport from its Summer Games program. If you were to ask me which sport, I would probably say something like Modern Pentathlon or Dressage; however the sport that will be cancelled is WRESTLING???? Yes, one of the oldest sports in the history of mankind and a sport which was included in the first modern games in Athens, and he ones from over two millenia ago, is no more as of 2020.
The reason given for this decision is vague at best. Basically, wrestling is being moved aside to try and include other more modern sports in the program such as wakeboarding, roller sports and squash. Apparently finances, popularity and tickets sold were among the reasons that wrestling was given the boot over all the other sports. So does it make sense to cut wrestling?
Rather than harp on the fact that wrestling should be given a “grandfathered-in” spot at the games based on its incredible long history, I’d prefer to focus on the state of wrestling as a sport today to properly address the IOC’ s reasoning.
Let’s begin with popularity around the world. 71 countries sent athletes to London for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games for wrestling and 29 of those countries produced a medal winner, showing that not only do many countries participate but many countries also excel in the sport. All six continents (sadly, no wrestlers from Antarctica) were represented. As wrestling is one of the most globally represented sports in the Olympics, it really doesn’t make sense to remove it. In addition to this is the massive popularity of wrestling in arguably the world’s largest sporting nation, the United States. Collegiate wrestling is incredibly popular and is gaining popularity with the rise of MMA given that wrestling is one of its core disciplines. So the IOC is cutting wrestling while there is a strong possibility of a spike in popularity for the sport in the coming years as MMA continues to gain momentum.
When it comes to ticket sales, wrestling may not be the biggest draw, but are significantly more people paying to watch shooting, judo or taekwondo? Also, it’s not like the Olympics are the Phoenix Coyotes and are going broke any time soon, so removing a sport based on the fact that it doesn’t put butts in the seats just doesn’t add up.
Obviously whenever a sport, most especially an Olympic sport, is called into question, the issue of doping is raised. Like any sport, wrestlers do take drugs and there are wrestlers who have been caught red-handed at the games but compared to weightlifting and athletics, wrestlers look squeaky clean with far more offenders coming from those sports. Now athletics is a big money maker so it’s not going anywhere but is it really more important to have weightlifting in the Olympics than wrestling?
The aforementioned factors mentioned above really don’t tell the whole story about why one of the pure tests of true athleticism is no longer a part of sport’s greatest event. I believe there were other topics thrown around the “secret” meeting that the elitist IOC held. For example, the friends of the IOC, which hold top spots in other sports. The son of Juan Antonio Samaranch, former IOC President, sits as VP of the International Modern Pentathlon Union, so its demise is off the table. Sports like sailing, equestrian and dressage are associated with wealth, whereas wrestling is more of a “blue collar” sport that a greater diversity of athletes can participate in so rather than “modernizing” the games it makes one wonder if the IOC is really trying to make them more exclusive and not as accessible to those with less means. This is speculation of course, but until the IOC gives a more compelling argument than what they have presented so far, sports fans are forced to scratch their heads and look for explanations.
As it stands now, wrestling is out, however the decision is not final as 2020 is a long way away and wrestling organizations around the world, including Canada who stand to take a big medal hit, are mobilizing. The hope is that the IOC will come to their senses and realize that the Olympics just isn’t the same without wrestling. But failing that, wrestlers may have to learn to ride a horse or pick up a ball and ribbon to make their Olympic dream come true.
