Wrestling Eliminated from Olympics

[Skittl1321]

I'm just going by the number of golfers I see with noticeable paunches, double chins and flabby arms. I'm not saying it's not hard work, but when I think of an "athlete" golfers are nowhere near the first that come to mind.

Can you name a professional golfer who fits that image? I honestly can't think of one.

I do remember a few curlers with quite the beer bellies though.

[overedge]

There is a wrestling program in my area that has produced several Olympic medalists - including some from small towns where wrestling was one of the few sports available or affordable. Obviously I am biased because of this, but wrestling should not be eliminated from the Olympics.

Taekwondo, on the other hand, has had a number of judging skandals over the years, in addition to stuff like this: http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com.../news/6608.asp
It should be kicked out before wrestling is.

[sk8er1964]

Can you name a professional golfer who fits that image? I honestly can't think of one.

John Daly, but I don't think he was that out of shape in his younger playing days. Of course, he's also not a successful golfer any longer, so there you go.

[Jenny]

Modern Pentathlon is also the brainchild of Baron de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics. It's going nowhere.

Apparently some people thought it was the one that was sure to go - this is from a Globe and Mail article in which the Canadian wrestling federation expressed their complete surprise:

"Wrestling was not on the radar,” a source told French news service AFP. “It was a very close vote between wrestling and modern pentathlon, maybe one or two votes separating them. The trouble was while modern pentathlon and tae kwon do did effective lobbying, wrestling thought they were safe and did none at all.”

Can you name a professional golfer who fits that image? I honestly can't think of one.

Mickelson is in better shape now, but he won a lot of tournaments when he looked like this.

I think this is from around the time O'Meara won the Masters.

Cabrera gets his green jacket here.

And OK this one's kinda funny, but it's not too far from how he looked when he won his two majors.

[Jenny]

John Daly, but I don't think he was that out of shape in his younger playing days. Of course, he's also not a successful golfer any longer, so there you go.

I believe this is his hold the PGA Championship Cup, and this is from the British Open that he won.

[Skittl1321]

Thanks for verifying the fat golfers

[Asli]

Wrestling is dropped and GOLF is added for 2016? WTF??

That says it all. Drop a sport where poorer countries do well and add a sport for the elite.

I hate golf. In my country ancient and beautiful forests have been destroyed to build golf courses for a few hundred wealthy people to play. It depletes the water resources and chemicals must be used to keep the grass green at all seasons. It is a disaster for the environment.

[sk8er1964]

Thanks for verifying the fat golfers

I guess I stand corrected!

I still have a whole lot of respect for golfers, though. All that walking - and carrying your clubs if you are not a pro - plus the mental part of the game! (That said, not sure it should be an Olympic sport.)

[GarrAarghHrumph]

Modern Pentathlon is also the brainchild of Baron de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics. It's going nowhere.

I'll be if wrestling gets kicked out. It's the only time its socially acceptable to watch sweaty and scantily clad grown men engage in mild frottage on daytime TV.

[Jenny]

Oh I respect golfers too - the combination of skill, strategy and physical power (I'm talking the kind that hits a ball far, but also the kind that controls exactly where it lands) is marvelous to watch when it's done well.

The other thing that's always interesting to me is that every course is different, and the conditions on that very day, even that very hour, play into the decisions a golfer must make along the way. And this is another reason why golf doesn't work for me as an Olympic sport. What's an Olympic regulation golf course? There are definitely Olys sports affected by weather conditions, but in most cases there are specifics for the physical playing field. But in golf, it varies by length, difficulty, grasses, hazards, links vs non links, etc.

[maatTheViking]

Modern Pentathlon is also the brainchild of Baron de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics. It's going nowhere.

which is probably why equestrian events are safe, since you need to accommodate for the horses for modern pentathlon anyway.

btw transporting the horses is not a huge issue, people on the top level do that from time to time, the real issue I find is about the heat. Both Sydney, Athens and Beijing had heat issues with horses, I remember in Athens they had huge blocks of ice with fans next to blowing cold air over the horses to cool them down. London was more suited for equine athletes! In addition, Sydney and Beijing had issues with getting the horses into the country, Australia has very strict quarantine rules for any animal, and for Beijing they had to hold the equestrian events in Hong Kong.

I'll be if wrestling gets kicked out. It's the only time its socially acceptable to watch sweaty and scantily clad grown men engage in mild frottage on daytime TV.

Do you ever watch UFC fighting? I understand that it is basically anything goes, but whenever I flip through it on TV it seems to be scantily clad men on the floor grunting and groping each other...

[Rob]

This is ridiculous - wrestling is Olympic tradition.

So golf brings Olympic sponsors, but now the host must have a world class golf course near the city.


There are plenty of overweight successful professional golfers. In fact, some of them have lost weight and lost their game.

Here's Craig Stadler (affectionately known as the Walrus) when he won the PGA Tour BC Open at age 50:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar.../sp/sp16a.html He won the Masters and 27 other tour events at various lighter weights, but he was never svelte.

A recent photo of Ernie Els: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/R7xOi...-tmG/Ernie+Els He's 24th in the World right now.

Carl Pettersson - lost his game when he lost weight; starting winning again when he gained some back. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tour-re...032--golf.html

[overedge]

FWIW rowing has set course lengths, but doesn't recognize world records over those distances because of variables such as weather, wind, water temperature, time of day, etc.
And that's also why there isn't a podium for medal presentations - everyone stands next to each other on the dock - to recognize the equal effort of all of the competitors.

I know you said that there are definitely other Olympic sports affected by weather conditions, but there are sports other than golf that have figured out ways to at least recognize the potential inequalities.

But I agree with you that golf is not an Olympic sport. It's elitist and it's destructive to the environment. I'm pretty sure that whatever city/country gets to host the first Olympics with golf in it will not have a course that is "acceptable" to the IOC, and will have to custom-build one.

(But I bet there are plenty of IOC board members who would LOVE to go on a "fact-finding tour" and review all the possible Olympic golf courses in contention....)

[Yehudi]

I also would like to remove sports where many of the top competitors choose not to show up because they want to concentrate on other competitions. That means tennis (where Roddick didn't go to London to focus on his ranking), soccer, basketball, and probably golf. I can see many not going because it will conflict with the PGA championships. If the Olympics are not your goal, then it shouldn't be included.

[Jenny]

FWIW rowing has set course lengths, but doesn't recognize world records over those distances because of variables such as weather, wind, water temperature, time of day, etc.
And that's also why there isn't a podium for medal presentations - everyone stands next to each other on the dock - to recognize the equal effort of all of the competitors.

I know you said that there are definitely other Olympic sports affected by weather conditions, but there are sports other than golf that have figured out ways to at least recognize the potential inequalities.

But I agree with you that golf is not an Olympic sport. It's elitist and it's destructive to the environment. I'm pretty sure that whatever city/country gets to host the first Olympics with golf in it will not have a course that is "acceptable" to the IOC, and will have to custom-build one.

(But I bet there are plenty of IOC board members who would LOVE to go on a "fact-finding tour" and review all the possible Olympic golf courses in contention....)

Oh definitely - I was thinking of rowing, and recently I was looking up 100 metre records and was interested to see that wind conditions were noted for every record. The bigger deal is the course itself though I think.

So on that point, as you said one might have to be built for the Olympics - so who makes the decision as to length, grass, hazards, links vs non links etc so that it's a fair playing field for all competitors?

I also would like to remove sports where many of the top competitors choose not to show up because they want to concentrate on other competitions. That means tennis (where Roddick didn't go to London to focus on his ranking), soccer, basketball, and probably golf. I can see many not going because it will conflict with the PGA championships. If the Olympics are not your goal, then it shouldn't be included.

Someone mentioned this upthread as well - that the Olympic gold medal should be seen as the very pinnacle of the sport. Others where it is not - hockey (sure it means a lot, but for the best players, it's still about winning the Stanley Cup), I think cycling too, and I do agree that in golf, it's going to be one of the majors for most if not all golfers.

I think an Olympic gold medal should mean that at that moment, you are the very best at that sport, and among the best to ever participate in that sport - the Usain Bolts of sport. Because of all the variables in golf, the best man might not be the winner that week. Unfortunately I also don't think that's always the case in skating.

[manhn]

But I thought in figure skating, Worlds is the pinnacle. And US Nationals.

[skateboy]

But I thought in figure skating, Worlds is the pinnacle. And US Nationals.

Only truly fanatical Kwan-ubers think that.

[overedge]

So on that point, as you said one might have to be built for the Olympics - so who makes the decision as to length, grass, hazards, links vs non links etc so that it's a fair playing field for all competitors?

Fair? This is the Olympics. Whoever has the most gets to choose whatever will benefit the players from their country or get the most TV ratings establish a course that will challenge all players equally and uphold the great Olympic ideal of sportsmanship.

[gingercrush]

I'd be gutted if Equestrian was out of the Olympics to be honest I've always liked it as a sport as it is one of the few where men and women are equal.

Wrestling being removed seems so wrong especially since 2004 women have been included in the program. Also there is nothing wrong with Field Hockey either. I don't believe they should add any new sports to the program especially not the ones they're currently considering.

[MR-FAN]

I'd be gutted if Equestrian was out of the Olympics to be honest I've always liked it as a sport as it is one of the few where men and women are equal.

Wrestling being removed seems so wrong especially since 2004 women have been included in the program. Also there is nothing wrong with Field Hockey either. I don't believe they should add any new sports to the program especially not the ones they're currently considering.

Not even roller skating? I'd love this to be an Olympic sport