Wrestling Eliminated from Olympics

[kylet3]

To counter the point of curling, to be a top level curler and get to the Worlds or Olympics these days, you darn well have to be in really good shape and be hugely physical fit to partake. A good friend of mine is an elite level curler and the gym regimen that he maintains is absolutely nuts, when they aren't on the ice, they're in the gym or doing some kind of physical fitness. Granted back in the day, you didn't have to be nearly as in shape but that's totally different today.

I was just completely and over this decision. It makes absolutely no sense to me. This is a sport that people say, is relatively inexpensive to get involved in, has no more doping scandals than any other sport (yes there was one Uzbek wrestler who lost a medal because of it, but that was the only one), the stands were filled in London and as far as I could tell was no less popular than any other sport. Whether it comes down to politics or money, this is a sport that has been around since the Ancient Olympic Games. Then to put golf in? It baffles the mind, I doubt it will be readmitted but I can hope. Either way this decision is just wrong.

[oleada]

This decision is just messed up! It's one of the most equal sports there is - so many different countries sent competitors. It's a ridiculous decision. For golf and pentathlon? WTF?

[danceronice]

my beef with a sport involving horses is that the horse gets much of the physical strain yet it gets no medal of recognition
dressage or equestrian should give the medal to the horse not the human !

"Dressage" is part of "Equestrian." The Olympic equestrian disciplines are show jumping, three-day eventing, and dressage. Reining (a Western discipline) would like to get in, but because despite a foray into Europe, especially Germany, it's still very American and Canadian it's a long shot. And the horses, as if they care, get ribbons. (Believe me, the horse doesn't care or have any idea about any prize it cannot eat.)

And the horses couldn't do a thing in any of those without the rider. It's a lot harder than it looks to someone who's never ridden (or only ridden pony rides or trail rides for tourists.) Sadly, if they cut one of the equestrian events, it would most likely be the cleanest and cheapest for genuine ams to participate in, Eventing, where the horses are lower-priced and competitions are cheaper to enter at all levels. (Though the horse cost is a little disingenuous-at that level, you almost never own the horse you're riding, unless you're Reed Kessler and qualify on one you brought along.) But Eventing requires the most real estate to put on.

I'm still not getting how BMX racing can be in the Olympics (X-Games, maybe) but they want to drop Wrestling? I mean, yes, I'd rather watch paint dry, but isn't that kind of one of the definitive Olympic sports?

[AragornElessar]

I do wonder about sports that are more about accuracy than athleticism and the higher/faster/stronger motto. I always liked the combined event of cross country skiing and shooting, but for other shooting events, what's next? Darts? Billiards? Horseshoes?

I realize there's a lot of skill involved and some level of specialized fitness, but anything where you can compete at a high level and still be out of shape doesn't seem to fit into the spirit of the Olympics to me. (I'm looking at you, curling!)

Have you watched Curling lately? That might have been the case 25 years ago, but not now. Also, have you tried it? Trust me when I say you discover brand new anatomy parts of your body when you attempt to keep up to a rock, at speed *and* trying to stay just ahead of it while brushing at the same time.

I'm just as pissed about this bone head move by the IOC, but taking pot shots at other sports isn't cool either.

Other than Golf that is. Phil Mickelson won my respect forever when he came out saying he believes Golf has no place in the Olympics. He's right too.

[reckless]

Eliminating wrestling is just beyond baffling. Not only is it a sport with origins in the ancient Olympics, but with the growth of mixed martial arts and the success of wrestlers, kids and teens are taking an increased interest in amateur wrestling. So there may soon be a larger pool of wrestlers with Olympic potential, though, there have been some promising amateurs who turned to MMA to make a living. Also, wrestling added women's wrestling classes for the last three Olympics, so the criticism that it isn't egalitarian isn't applicable.

It looks to me like the wrestling federation got blindsided at the vote, much like softball did a few years ago, when it thought it was safe and then got blasted because it was associated with baseball (and the IOC didn't like that Major League Baseball was refusing to let pros play). But it was absurd that wrestling was even in the mix for possible rejection. And yet badminton, which has been totally dominated by the Chinese and Koreans for years -- and was the subject of a major scandal -- doesn't even seem to have been in danger. Very baffling.

[Yehudi]

One of the articles I read brought up an interesting point. Pentathlon is willing to completely overhaul it's format and do anything to stay in. Skating and Gymnastics, for better or for worse, changed their scoring systems at the behest of the IOC. Wrestling at the higher levels seemed to be 1-0 matches where nothing happened for the first few minutes. Were they willing to change to make it more exciting?

[Domshabfan]

One of the articles I read brought up an interesting point. Pentathlon is willing to completely overhaul it's format and do anything to stay in. Skating and Gymnastics, for better or for worse, changed their scoring systems at the behest of the IOC. Wrestling at the higher levels seemed to be 1-0 matches where nothing happened for the first few minutes. Were they willing to change to make it more exciting?

Wrestling actually made changes as well, the matches are set based with best of three of 2 mins each. So an athletes at least need to score 2 points.

[Skittl1321]

To counter the point of curling, to be a top level curler and get to the Worlds or Olympics these days, you darn well have to be in really good shape and be hugely physical fit to partake.

Every Olympic athlete has to be 'in shape' for the sport they do. What that shape is varies, and how beyond the needs of the sport people go probably depends on how competitive it is in that country to get on the team. Compared to other athletes, I still think it is possible for curlers to be -less- in shape. This is not to say that other athletes could curl well, I'm guessing it is incredibly difficult, much more than it looks when watching.

Are "these days" that different from Vancouver? John Shuster (who medaled in Torino) is not the pinnacle of 'in shape' (his Olympic picture he looks more slender than some others on the internet where he has a double chin) and said in an interview with Stephen Colbert that he can't touch his toes. Now, touching your toes might not be a skilled valued in curling- but most people would think a 'fit' person could do that.

[kylet3]

Every Olympic athlete has to be 'in shape' for the sport they do. What that shape is varies, and how beyond the needs of the sport people go probably depends on how competitive it is in that country to get on the team. Compared to other athletes, I still think it is possible for curlers to be -less- in shape. This is not to say that other athletes could curl well, I'm guessing it is incredibly difficult, much more than it looks when watching.

Are "these days" that different from Vancouver? John Shuster (who medaled in Torino) is not the pinnacle of 'in shape' (his Olympic picture he looks more slender than some others on the internet where he has a double chin) and said in an interview with Stephen Colbert that he can't touch his toes. Now, touching your toes might not be a skilled valued in curling- but most people would think a 'fit' person could do that.

That's certainly a fair point, not every single curler is in the best physical shape humanly possible, but I would also argue that Shuster and his team in Vancouver had one of the worst records as well, was that due to fitness? Perhaps, was it just due to poor shot making? Perhaps, but generally, the teams who are doing the best today are the ones who are consistently in the gym, working on fitness, working on ways to get stronger, etc.

[Domshabfan]

IOC decision to axe wrestling, the press release.

IOC press office email address : pressoffice@olympic.org... I know that is probably now the correct email address to sent to but they will never the less the get the message.

I really wanted Squash to be an olympic sport, now i will hope Wrestling get back at the next meeting in september.

[professordeb]

This just feels horribly and terribly wrong. I actually enjoy watching the wrestling matches at this level (unlike the fake stuff that morphed into MMA). I believe a couple of things as has been posted here already, led to it being tossed.
1) didn't think it needed to lobby to stay in compared to the others on the list
2) didn't grease enough hands to stay in
3) doesn't have enough sponsorship to bring in big $$$ for the IOC

This just majorly sucks!

BTW, I generally hate golf and bringing that elitist game into the Olympics is WRONG on too many fronts.

Lastly, I still think that basketball is a winter sport and should be played in the Winter Olympics. Why should hockey have to shut down for a few weeks so it's "stars" can by Olympians but the NBA doesn't have to do likewise. Sorry for going OT, but it's been a beef of mine for years.

Back to being ticked off about wrestling being eliminated.

[Skittl1321]

(unlike the fake stuff that morphed into MMA).

Why should hockey have to shut down for a few weeks so it's "stars" can by Olympians but the NBA doesn't have to do likewise.

MMA is fake?

Most NBA owners don't want their players playing in the Olympics at all, even in the off season (because an injury there will end up costing THEM big bucks), so there is no way they are going to get them to play during the regular season. I've never considered basketball to be a winter sport though, I guess now that it is an indoor game, but kids in our neighborhood can't play right now- the court is snowed over! It is a summer sport to them.

[sk8er1964]

Two people have now called golf an "elitist" sport. It is not elitist. Expensive, yes, but it is accessible to anyone who wants to play it - and there are often programs for kids who families cannot afford the equipment to be able to play anyway. My son will be playing golf in college, and I can assure you (being a skater myself) that it has cost me far less to prepare for him to play golf at the college level than it would have cost me to prepare a figure skater to skate at, say, a regional level. I would argue that figure skating is far more elitist than golf, being more expensive and less accessible to lower income people and the general masses.

One more thing about golf, and I will let it drop. Someone upthread said that golf damages the environment, and this is not completely true. Yes, they use pesticides etc, but they also often participate in environmental programs and take pride in being good environmental stewards.

[BlueRidge]

Just curious, is there any other sport that needs as much prepared space as golf? I guess skiing and bobsled?

If anything is not environmentally friendly its alpine skiing, but you hear this about golf but I've not heard it about skiing.

I think we all know about the cost and environmental impact of skating.

[escaflowne9282]

And yet we still have the 2 country monopoly that is Women's hockey?

[Rottie]

In all the reaction to this, I haven't heard any that isn't WTF. This is a real shame.

[professordeb]

MMA is fake?

Most NBA owners don't want their players playing in the Olympics at all, even in the off season (because an injury there will end up costing THEM big bucks), so there is no way they are going to get them to play during the regular season. I've never considered basketball to be a winter sport though, I guess now that it is an indoor game, but kids in our neighborhood can't play right now- the court is snowed over! It is a summer sport to them.

I didn't mean that MMA was fake, just the "pro" wrestling from which I believe it spawned. The stories my parents would tell us of when they went and watched wrestling. Of course, at that time it wasn't as bad, but bad enough. Anyone remember "the Skeik"? How about "Hulk Hogan"?

Sorry, I detoured again. Getting old and reminiscing seems to happen a lot ... some days

As for the NBA -- I just don't find it fair that one league's players don't have to stop league play in order to participate in an Olmpics while other leagues do.

[overedge]

I didn't mean that MMA was fake, just the "pro" wrestling from which I believe it spawned.

MMA actually came out of martial arts, hence the name. Professional wrestling is doing its best to pretend that MMA doesn't exist.

The stories my parents would tell us of when they went and watched wrestling. Of course, at that time it wasn't as bad, but bad enough. Anyone remember "the Skeik"? How about "Hulk Hogan"?

https://twitter.com/the_ironsheik WARNING: not safe for work or for anyone who gets easily offended.

[allezfred]

I think golf is more boring than watching paint dry and building courses in parts of the world where there is a shortage of water is criminal, but the irony of people complaining about elitism, expense and environmental damage on a figure skating forum is

[GarrAarghHrumph]

Phil Mickelson won my respect forever when he came out saying he believes Golf has no place in the Olympics. He's right too.

What were his reasons for not wanting golf in the Olys?


Re: wrestling - my grandfather is likely rolling over in his grave right now. He was on the US Oly team for wrestling back a zillion years ago.