Matt Kryger-USA Today Sports
A day after choosing Tokyo as the 2020 Olympics host, the IOC avoided Zeus’ wrath and pleased the wrestling community by reinstating the original Olympic sport into the 2020 and 2024 games.
It has been a long seven months for wresting, but the sport can rejoice knowing it has a place back in the Olympics. With the decision, wrestling has been added to both the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Olympics, whose location will be decided in 2017 with bidding starting in 2015.
The IOC made a stupid decision to ax wrestling instead of sports like the modern pentathlon but did the right thing adding it back. Wrestling is not the most popular sport stateside, but around the world, it is very popular. 177 countries are members of FILA – the international wrestling federation.
Wrestling earned 49 votes over Baseball/Softball’s 24 votes, and 22 votes for Squash.
If the IOC didn’t make the idiotic decision to cut wrestling in the first place, it would have been great to see baseball and softball back in the Olympics, or see Squash make its inaugural Olympics. However, the IOC needed to right their wrongs against wrestling and add it back.
In the future, wrestling should get rid of the modern pentathlon or the ever so popular trampoline and rhythmic gymnastics. I didn’t know that jumping on trampoline or twirling some streamers with music makes you an Olympic athlete.
IOC, thank you for waking up and adding back wrestling, but it is time you eliminate activities like rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline to add sports that are popular around the world like squash and cricket. Sure, Americans might not like cricket because of its long games and tea breaks, but it is not always about what the Americans want.
For now, we can rest easy knowing that the IOC finally did something right and reinstated wrestling. Additionally, we don’t have to worry about Zeus’ wrath coming down on Earth either.
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