Tokyo Olympics

[Syn7]

If rollerberby or karate pushes out wrestling, I will never watch the Olympics again...!!!

Sacrificing an ancient sport to accommodate some newschool popular "let's attract the kids" hustle is ridiculous. The olympics were nearing joke status as it was, now this stuff... Boooo....!!!

[Kellen Bassette]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympic...201325406.html

Golf did wrestling in. It boggles the mind.

[Syn7]

What's next? Darts, pool and bowling? Maybe we can dump swimming, gymnastics and boxing to make room.


Fuck the olympics.

[RenDaHai]

WTF??

Wrestling is one of the original sports.

There are so many things in the olympics which shouldn't be there because they are really niche things that you need a lot of equipment to practice and most people have never even had a chance to try. Things like that should be cut because there are so few people who do them, they are not olympic. But wrestling??

You can practice that in your living room for gods sake. I agree with trimming olympics down to its base sports, sports everyone can do so you really get the worlds most impressive athletes because there is a lot of competition. But wrestling is one of those.

[Syn7]

WTF??

Wrestling is one of the original sports.

There are so many things in the olympics which shouldn't be there because they are really niche things that you need a lot of equipment to practice and most people have never even had a chance to try. Things like that should be cut because there are so few people who do them, they are not olympic. But wrestling??

You can practice that in your living room for gods sake. I agree with trimming olympics down to its base sports, sports everyone can do so you really get the worlds most impressive athletes because there is a lot of competition. But wrestling is one of those.

Word....!!!

At least keep the basics. I agree less/cheaper/accessible is better. Mos def more inclusive, and I mean that is the point here isn't it? Almost everyone can swim, run, jump, wrestle etc. We should at the very least keep the basics.

WTF is up with even considering things like rollerderby?

[GeneChing]

...but it is a possibility...

Will Wushu Replace Wrestling in 2020 Olympic Games?
By Melissa Siegel - Posted: 02/12/13 04:13PM EST


Wrestler Rulon Gardner, bottom, competes at the 2004 U.S. National Wrestling Championships. Gardner won a gold medal in the sport at the 2000 Olympics. (Photo: Creative Commons)

The martial art wushu could replace wrestling in the 2020 Olympics.

According to Reuters, the International Olympic Committee made the surprising decision to cut wrestling from the 2020 games. Per CNN, wrestling was part of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and has been included in all but one Summer Olympics since.

"This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said, per Yahoo Sports. "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 (other) 25 core sports."

According to the Telegraph, wrestling was eliminated from the Olympics because organizers felt it was not as exciting to watch on television as some other sports. Plus, other events that were thought to be in danger, like taekwondo and the modern pentathlon, ran strong lobbying campaigns in favor of keeping their sport around.

Despite Tuesday's ruling, wrestling will be contested at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. There is also a chance it could be reinstated as an Olympic sport before the 2020 games.

The Associated Press reports that wrestling will now join seven other sports that will need to apply for inclusion in the 2020 games. Those events are baseball/softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.

The IOC will then meet in May to narrow down the list, with the final vote coming at the IOC general assembly meeting in September.

Wushu is perhaps the least known of those sports, at least in the United States. According to the Stanford University Wushu Club, the word literally translates as military art, or the art of fighting. For years the term was interchangeable with "kung fu," but in recent years wushu has become synonymous with performance and sport, while kung fu emphasizes actual fighting.

Wushu has also been competed on the national stage. It has been a medal event in the Asian Games since 1990. In addition, World Wushu Championships have been held in each of the past 11 years.

According to the International Wushu Federation website, wushu taolu, or competitive wushu, involves "fighting" movements" between a pair of people. The sport is split up into several events, including swordplay, spearplay, and three separate styles of boxing.

While it's unknown whether Wushu will take wrestling's place in 2020, it seems unlikely that the latter sport will be reinstated so soon after it was cut. Thus, fans may have to get used to seeing a new sport at the Olympic games.

[sanjuro_ronin]

If wrestling goes than it is quite obvious that no sport is safe.

[Kellen Bassette]

According to the Stanford University Wushu Club, the word literally translates as military art, or the art of fighting. For years the term was interchangeable with "kung fu," but in recent years wushu has become synonymous with performance and sport, while kung fu emphasizes actual fighting.

Now if we could just get that definition of Kung Fu to catch on.....

Wrestling is so obviously the deserving sport out of the 8 contenders. Why would we need Karate when Tae Kwon Do is in the Olympics? Roller sports???? Really? We got gymnastics, who needs Wushu?

[SevenStar]

If rollerberby or karate pushes out wrestling, I will never watch the Olympics again...!!!

Sacrificing an ancient sport to accommodate some newschool popular "let's attract the kids" hustle is ridiculous. The olympics were nearing joke status as it was, now this stuff... Boooo....!!!

politics and money. but at least they are keeping judo.

[GeneChing]

...and Wrestling might be back in.

Wrestling, baseball-softball could return for 2020 Olympics
Associated Press
Posted: 05/29/2013 08:43:17 AM PDT
Updated: 05/29/2013 08:56:09 AM PDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Wrestling, squash and baseball-softball made the IOC short list Wednesday for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics.

Three months after being dropped from the 2020 program, wrestling took a big step toward keeping its Olympic status.

Eight sports were vying for a single opening in the lineup.

Eliminated from contention were five sports -- karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and the Chinese martial art of wushu.

The IOC executive board will submit wrestling, squash and baseball-softball to the full IOC assembly for a final decision on Sept. 8 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"It's a good mix of team sports and individual," IOC vice president Thomas Bach said.

The decision came after the eight sports federations made closed-door presentations to the IOC executive board.

Men's baseball and women's softball, which have been off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games, merged into a single federation to improve their chances.

Squash is bidding for an Olympic spot for a third time.

Wrestling, with a tradition dating to the ancient Olympics, was surprisingly cut from the list of core sports by the IOC board in February. The decision caused an international outcry and prompted the United States, Russia, Iran and other countries to join forces in a bid to bring the sport back.

[lkfmdc]

ah, but the USAWKF and others will still tell people wushu and sanshou are in the Olympics