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I wonder why wrestling was removed from the Olympics without any public discussion. I do not follow wrestling on a regular basis but considering that it has been one of the oldest sports in the world history and a part of the Olympic games since 1904, I was a bit shocked when I heard the news.

Can someone shed some light into the official (and perhaps less official, more speculative) motives behind this decision?

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    We haven't had a wrestling tag until now? Blasphemy!
    – user527
    Commented Feb 14, 2013 at 14:27
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    @sancho I was referring to lack of public discussion about it. I follow sports papers on a regular basis, and one day out of the blue there it was, an article that said wrestling was not an Olympic sport anymore.
    – posdef
    Commented Feb 15, 2013 at 10:01
  • "Without any public discussion" - the IOC's organization requires little, if any public discussion, and no doubt they don't consider this a problem.
    – pjmorse
    Commented May 11, 2013 at 0:52

1 Answer 1

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According to a statement by an IOC spokesperson in this article, this is a move to renovate the offering of core sports in the Olympics and offer "the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020."

It was noted that wrestling ranked low in popularity, TV audience, hits on the Internet, and press coverage.

An executive board reviewed sports in the Summer Olympics with the intent to remove one to add another later this year...none may be added however.

The board voted after reviewing a report by the IOC program commission that analyzed 39 criteria, including TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.

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  • didn't they already add rugby and will try to add golf?
    – gbianchi
    Commented Feb 14, 2013 at 15:24
  • Golf is in the 2016 games
    – user527
    Commented Feb 14, 2013 at 15:47
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    It is a sad day when golf is considered an Olympic sport while wrestling is not... I'd rather see Starcraft as an Olympic sport than golf, but hey that's just me. Maybe I am just not rich or noble enough :)
    – posdef
    Commented Feb 15, 2013 at 9:59
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    @posdef With the current status, they can better remove soccer from the Olympic program, imo.
    – Bernhard
    Commented Feb 15, 2013 at 19:47
  • @Bernhard true, it's not like anyone really cares about football at the olympics.. :)
    – posdef
    Commented Feb 16, 2013 at 1:32

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