IOC drops wrestling from the 2020 Olympics

As much as I love golf, having golf but no wrestling in the Olympics is mind boggling!

That's pretty surprising.  It seems like it's one of the "olympic-est" (forgive my made up word) sports out there.

(For the record, I hate wrestling ... but it still seems strange that it's not an olympic sport)

Of course, it's a fluid thing, because even though it was taken off the calendar for 2020, they can still reapply to become an olympic sport again in ... 2020!  (Certainly that would be doubtful, but it could happen!)

No wrestling but curling and fast walking remain, the IOC has officially jumped the shark. 

Pretty sure the ancient Greeks didn't play golf, curl, fast walk or sports climb. How many people watch the discus or javelin, are we going to axe those too? Some foundational traditions should be deferred to even if they don't make money or grab eyeballs, in my opinion.

My son is a wrestler in HS so I have become more involved with the sport.  Most people seem to blame FILA for poor support and promotion of wrestling internationally.  They'd probably be better off to focus on freestyle wresting more as well.  Of the three styles of wrestling, Greco-Roman, Freestyle and Folkstyle, Greco Roman imo is the least entertaining and most confusing scoring system of the three. 

I'd agree that the nature of Greco-Roman has the potential to more entertaining as it is all upper body but at least at the H.S. level and younger the focus seems to be on the avoidance of being thrown versus scoring points which results in a lot of stalling.   

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Originally Posted by Jspangler 


Greco is probably the hardest to follow and score but I wouldn't go as far as saying its not entertaining. Greco is all upperbody/ throws, an active Greco match is very fun to watch.

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Originally Posted by David in FL 

But we still have synchronized swimming.....  

 

There can be no doubt that the human race is doomed.  

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Originally Posted by newtogolf 

No wrestling but curling and fast walking remain, the IOC has officially jumped the shark. 

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Originally Posted by Stretch 

Pretty sure the ancient Greeks didn't play golf, curl, fast walk or sports climb. How many people watch the discus or javelin, are we going to axe those too? Some foundational traditions should be deferred to even if they don't make money or grab eyeballs, in my opinion.

I agree with each of the comments above, however, to be fair, many of these aren't apples to apples comparisons.  Wrestling, as a whole, is(was) considered an Olympic "sport."  The silly sports mentioned above - syncronized swimming, fast walking, and I'd add dressage and rhythmic gymnastics (the one with the ribbon) are only single events under the umbrella of aquatics, track & field, equestrian, and gymnastics, respectively.

So it's not like they could ever get rid of syncronized swimming instead of wrestling, unless you want to get rid of the pool altogether and all of the rest of the swimmers and divers too. 

And the curling comparison doesn't really count because the Winter Olympics as a whole were completely made up in the 20th century and none of the sports have anything to do with Ancient Greeks.  Furthermore, curling is awesome!  I became a huge fan after the last olympics (Vancouver, right?).  For the record, the "dumbest" winter sports are the bobsled and luge.

Folkstyle is my preference as well.  My wife gets too upset watching my sons matches so it's best for her and my son that she not be there.  I played football but with concussions getting so much publicity my wife would prefer he wrestle than play football.  Biggest problem with wrestling is keeping the mats clean so the entire wrestling team doesn't get ringworm and MSRA. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jspangler 

I will agree with you on that, as a former wrestler. But if I remember correctly there was a fair bit stalling in HS wrestling. I actually prefer watching collegiate style folkstyle, I like the riding time point which can really sway a match. But that's me living in the past, I hope maybe my boys will wrestle but doubt that being my wife opposes it, and we know how that goes lol.

As an admitted wrestling hater, I'll say one thing I can't stand about the sport.  (Forgive me and please correct me if my uninformed opinion is way off base here)

I remember in high school (many, many years ago) that the silliest, and seemingly most dangerous, part of the sport was everything centered around "making weight."  I seem to remember my friends getting dressed up in sweat suits and going outside in the 100 degree weather to run as many laps as were necessary to sweat off the last few pounds.  I don't even want to think about the eating/drinking habits, and I can only speculate about the severity of this stuff at an Olympic level if this is what I remember about it in high school.

It's different now at least at the HS level, not sure what is done at college.  In H.S. weights have to be certified.  I had to take my son to be weighed in, he had to urinate to prove he wasn't dehydrated then they performed a body fat analysis using a Tanita scale. 

Wrestlers cannot wrestle at less than 7% body fat for males and 12% body fat for females.  Their current height, weight, hydration level and body fat percentage is used to calculate the lowest weight class the wrestler can wrestle in.  If it falls in between weight classes, they  must compete at the higher weight class. 

EDIT:  They also may not lose more than 1.5% of bodyweight per week which is factored into determining the lowest weight class they can compete in. 

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Originally Posted by Golfingdad 

As an admitted wrestling hater, I'll say one thing I can't stand about the sport.  (Forgive me and please correct me if my uninformed opinion is way off base here)

 

I remember in high school (many, many years ago) that the silliest, and seemingly most dangerous, part of the sport was everything centered around "making weight."  I seem to remember my friends getting dressed up in sweat suits and going outside in the 100 degree weather to run as many laps as were necessary to sweat off the last few pounds.  I don't even want to think about the eating/drinking habits, and I can only speculate about the severity of this stuff at an Olympic level if this is what I remember about it in high school.

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Originally Posted by Jspangler 

I agree my wife always says that also, but in all the years I wrestled I never once got ringworm.
I agree with you, idk what it is like at the Olympic level, constantly watch you weight. But I can honestly say at the high school level alot has changed even since I've been in school (10 years). Now they weigh the kids before the season starts and registers it with the HSAA. They can then only get down to a set weight, and it has to be gradual of the course of 2 months or something like that.

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Originally Posted by newtogolf 

It's different now at least at the HS level, not sure what is done at college.  In H.S. weights have to be certified.  I had to take my son to be weighed in, he had to urinate to prove he wasn't dehydrated then they performed a body fat analysis using a Tanita scale. 

 

Wrestlers cannot wrestle at less than 7% body fat for males and 12% body fat for females.  Their current height, weight, hydration level and body fat percentage is used to calculate the lowest weight class the wrestler can wrestle in.  If it falls in between weight classes, they  must compete at the higher weight class. 

 

EDIT:  They also may not lose more than 1.5% of bodyweight per week which is factored into determining the lowest weight class they can compete in. 

Thanks for the info, fellas!  This is good to hear because these were the main reasons why I so dislike wrestling.  With just this info above, I don't hate it anymore. :)  I'm not a fan, but the severe distaste, at least for the high school level, is gone.  Glad to hear they have such strict health related rules now. :)

You're welcome, it was a big problem for wrestling in the past based on what I learned from parents and coaches.  It is still a problem in sports like boxing and the MMA where guys weigh in days before a match and potentially drop and regain 20+ pounds over a few days. 

There's definitely an advantage to competing in weight classes below your natural weight, but it seems the weight certification has eliminated most of the problems related to weight within H.S. wrestling.  We've seen some issues in open tournaments where the weights aren't managed as closely and kids show up in weight classes they clearly don't belong in. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad 

 

Thanks for the info, fellas!  This is good to hear because these were the main reasons why I so dislike wrestling.  With just this info above, I don't hate it anymore. :)  I'm not a fan, but the severe distaste, at least for the high school level, is gone.  Glad to hear they have such strict health related rules now. :)