Olympic Committee recommends removing wrestling as olympic sport

USPA News - The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday recommended wrestling be dropped from the Olympic Games. The 15-member IOC gathered at its headquarters located in Lausanne, Switzerland and recommended that wrestling, which is governed by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), not be included on the list of core sports. With the statement, wrestling, which has been in the Olympic Games since the IOC was founded in 1894, will now join the seven shortlisted sports ? baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding and wushu ? vying for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic programme as an additional sport.

In a statement, the IOC said the recommendations was made in "an effort to ensure the Olympic Games remain relevant to sports fans of all generations." In addition, the Committee confirmed it will propose athletics, rowing, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, weightlifting, handball, hockey, judo, swimming, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing and volleyball to the 125th IOC Session for approval as the core sports for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. The eight additional sports are scheduled to make presentations to the Executive Board at its meeting in St Petersburg, Russia, in May. The EB will select which of the eight sports to recommend to the 125th IOC Session for inclusion as an additional sport on the 2020 programme.  Golf and rugby sevens were added in 2009 as additional sports to the 2016 Olympic programme. The 125th IOC Session will to take place from September 7 to 10 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.