The International Olympic Committee has trumped the pope. We thought Benedict XVI was upsetting precedent by becoming the first pontiff in several centuries to resign his office.
But now comes a decision by the IOC’s executive board — a body more secretive than the Vatican — to drop a sport that has been part of the Olympics since the first games were held in 708 BC.
The board’s decision must still be ratified at the IOC general assembly this September in Buenos Aires. If the full committee agrees, wrestling will disappear from the program starting in 2020.
Few sports are as closely associated with the essence of the Olympics as wrestling. With one exception, it’s also been part of the modern Games since their launch in 1896. And in sharp contrast to athletes in some other sports, for wrestlers the Olympics remains the summit of their competition.
So why has the IOC put wrestling in a full nelson? It’s hard to say, given that the vote was made behind closed doors.
Maybe it’s because the sport that reportedly beat out wrestling in the secret vote — the modern pentathlon — is run by one Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., son of the IOC’s former president.
The most troubling aspect is that this move is but the latest in a trend that is killing the amateur spirit. As wrestling is pushed aside, golf is moving in, joining Olympic sports such as basketball and tennis, which are open to professionals.
Undoubtedly, big names like Tiger Woods or Ernie Els would get attention. But at what cost?
Young athletes who take the sport seriously will be deprived of ever achieving the Olympic gold that is every wrestler’s dream. And we worry that schools may decline to support a sport that no longer has a place in the Olympic pantheon.
Still, we’re not ready to call this match. There is an appeals process in May, when wrestling will “compete” with seven other sports marked for elimination. Only one will survive.
Here’s hoping the wrestlers can pin the IOC on this Olympic travesty.