OFFICIALS HAVE VOTED to drop wrestling from the programme for the 2020 Olympic Games.
An official familiar with the decision told the Associated Press that the International Olympic Committee’s executive board decided to remove wrestling following a review of all 26 sports.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision hadn’t been announced yet.
Eliminating one sport will allow the IOC to add a new event to the program later this year. Baseball and softball have combined forces to seek inclusion in 2020, competing against karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.
This morning’s decision will come as a relief to those lobbying for modern pentathlon to retain its Olympic status. The five-discipline multi-event — comprised of fencing, swimming, horse riding, running and shooting — was first introduced by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, in 1912 but was under close scrutiny in the review.
Ireland’s Natalya Coyle finished ninth in the women’s modern pentathlon on her Olympic debut in London.
The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC general assembly in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
– Stephen Wilson, Associated Press (additional reporting by Niall Kelly)
