Tradition be damned.
The International Olympic Committee made a surprise decision on Tuesday to remove wrestling from the Olympic program for the 2020 Games, eliminating it from the list of 25 “core sports.”
The IOC will be able to add one new sport, with contenders such as wushu and wakeboarding vying for the spot opened by the removal of wrestling, which has been featured since the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.
“This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “In the view of the executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It’s not a case of what’s wrong with wrestling, it is what’s right with the 25 core sports.”
Wrestling was voted out from a final group that also included modern pentathlon, taekwondo and field hockey, officials familiar with the vote told The Associated Press. The decision was made by secret ballot over several rounds, with the vote coming after the board reviewed a report by the IOC program commission that analyzed 39 criteria, including ticket sales, television ratings, global participation and popularity.
Wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at last year’s London Olympics. Women’s wrestling was added to the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020, along with a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports and sport climbing.
The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sports to propose for 2020 inclusion and the final vote will be made at the IOC session in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“Today’s decision is not final,” Adams said. “The session is sovereign and the session will make the final decision.”
The modern pentathlon, which has been in the Olympics since 1912, was previously considered under the greatest threat of removal.