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leaders from many nations and bringing them together in a unified effort. CPOW has had two major press con- ferences about the American initiative. The first featured USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender, CPOW co-chair Jim Scherr and Olympic bronze- medalist Coleman Scott just days after the IOC announcement. The second was conducted during the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, and featured CPOW chair Bill Scherr, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, wrestling legend Dan Gable and Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs. Both of these events were very successful, informing the wrestling community about what is going on and keeping the issue in the news.
Media coverage on the issue has been massive both in the USA and around the world. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno featured 2000 Olympic Greco-Roman champion Rulon Gardner and 2008 Olympic freestyle champion Henry Cejudo as guests on March 18. The wrestling heroes discussed how wrestling has changed their lives and explained USA Wrestling’s campaign to Keep Wrestling In the Olympics. In an unprece- dented sign of support, Leno said, "I invit- ed them here because I'm really mad about this.”
The Coalition to Keep Wrestling In the Olympics was launched by four wrestling organizations including USA Wrestling and has been opened to any group that wants to support the effort. This includes groups of any size and mission, including both non-profit and for- profit groups.
All that is necessary is a donation and the contact information of a person from the group who will be part of the effort. There were over 100 groups who joined in the first month, with a goal of getting thousands signed up in the upcoming months.
Government support for Olympic wrestling within the United States has been extensive. The U.S. Senate passed legislation urging the International Olympic Committee to reverse its decision to elim- inate wrestling from the Olympic Games beginning in 2020. The bipartisan resolution, introduced by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D OH), cleared the Senate. The resolution was cosponsored by Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Al Franken (D-MN), Bob Casey (D-PA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Carl Levin (D-MI), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Roy Blunt (R-MO). A letter to IOC President Dr. Jacques
Rogge was sent from seven U.S. Congressmen encouraging the IOC to reconsider its choice and vote to continue wrestling in the Olympics. It was signed by Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and Congressmen Jim Jordan, David Loebsack, Timothy Walz and Steve King. Iowa governor Terry E. Branstad released a letter, co-signed by a biparti- san group of 33 governors, calling on the International Olympic Committee to keep wrestling as an Olympic sport. The Kentucky House of Representatives over- whelmingly approved a bi-partisan resolu- tion supporting wrestling as an Olympic sport.
Many more state governments are expected to pass similar resolutions in the next few months. A committee of U.S. wrestling leaders, led by CPOW Chairman Bill Scherr and wrestling legend Dan Gable, developed the American recommendations for changes in the international wrestling rules. FILA is committed to making the sport easier to understand and more dynamic with key rule improvements. On the international level, a very impor-
tant meeting was held on Thursday, March 7, when Acting FILA President Nenad Lalovic met with IOC President Jacques Rogge about wrestling and its opportunities within the Olympic move- ment. FILA issued a statement about the meeting which President Lalovic said “the meeting was very cordial and helpful. Our objective was to listen and learn from the discussion with President Rogge and I am very pleased with the result.” FILA announced that there will be an Extraordinary Congress in Moscow, Russia on May 18, where all of the 177 international wrestling federations will meet. The national wrestling federations will elect a new President which will serve through 2014.
Acting President Lalovic will run for
FILA President at this meeting, with the full support of USA Wrestling and other important wrestling nations. During the meeting, FILA will also dis- cuss getting more athlete and women’s involvement in FILA, and the rules of the sport will be reviewed and improved. FILA has engaged one of the world’s most successful strategy firms which spe- cializes in the Olympic movement. This firm will work on wrestling’s behalf, helping set the strategy and exe- cute the game plan at the important meetings and opportunities over the next few months. Currently, preparation is ongoing for
presentations at the important meetings in Russia in May and in Argentina in September.
Major leaders worldwide are coming out in support of Olympic wrestling. The head of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), Sheik Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah of Kuwait, said that wrestling has the unanimous support of his Executive Council.
Carlos Nuzman, the President of Rio 2016, the organization which will host the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has backed keeping wrestling on the program of the 2020 Olympic Games. Turkish Sports Minister Suat Kilicm, who also chairs the Istanbul bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, came out in support of Olympic wrestling. Numerous heads of state continue to support wrestling as an Olympic sport. Included in the growing list of government leaders behind the wrestling effort are Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmaninedjad and Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev. The Federal Government of Nigeria has formally come out in favor of wrestling as an Olympic sport. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is also speaking out for Olympic wrestling. There have major international wrestling competitions held around the world in which the Keep Olympic Wrestling message has been prominent. A major success was the World Cup for both men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman, held in Tehran, Iran.
Sell-out crowds were at the Azadi
Sports Arena in Tehran to witness this popular event. Amazing reports from Iran were aired
on ABC Nightly News and on CNN. Another big event was the Women’s
World Cup, held in Mongolia which dis- played the unified effort among nations behind Olympic wrestling. Through the efforts of USA Wrestling and with support from CPOW, FILA has enlisted Bob Condron of the United States to help manage its public relations and communications activities. Condron worked more than 30 years as a public relations executive for the U.S. Olympic Committee and also served many years on the IOC Press Commission.
This summary touches upon some of the major activities in the effort in the first two months.
There will be much more going on in the weeks and months to come, leading up to the final IOC decision in September. We ask you to stay informed and become active, as we all work together to Keep Olympic Wrestling.
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