KEEP WRESTLING IN THE OLYMPICS
Sport being showcased during important month
Wrestling also putting together proposal to be heard in front of IOC Executive Board during World Wrestling Month
By Gary Abbott May is World Wrestling Month, declared by international wrestling feder- ation FILA as an international celebration of the sport and an opportunity to show- case wrestling a part of its effort to retain wrestling on the Olympic program. It has been more than three months since the International Olympic Committee announced on Feb. 12 that its Executive Board recommended that wrestling be removed as a core sport at the 2020 Olympic Games. Before the month of May is over, there will be a tremendous amount of activity within wrestling both in the United States and around the world.
The focus of all of the work within inter- national wrestling is the IOC Executive Board in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 29. Wrestling will be reviewed along with seven other sports for consideration as a finalist for the one remaining provisional sport slots at the 2020 Olympic Games. FILA, working with its strategy firm Teneo, and with support from the national wrestling federations, has painstakingly put together a 30-minute proposal to tell the story of Olympic wrestling and why it belongs on the Olympic program. This vote will play a major role in determining whether the Keep Olympic Wrestling movement succeeds. There will be an all-star cast brought together for this important presentation. Acting FILA president Nenad Lalovic will be joined by two new members of the FILA Bureau, internationally respected Jim Scherr of the United States and Alexander Kareline of Russia. Scherr, for- mer CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Kareline, a three-time Olympic cham-
Oklahoma State coach John Smith, a two-time Olympic champion, speaks at the CPOW press conference during the U.S. Open in Las Vegas. Larry Slater photo.
pion and member of the Russian parlia- ment, are both highly respected in the Olympic movement. Two athletes will help with the presentation, Olympic champions Daniel Igali and Carol Huynh, both with amazing personal stories of tri- umph. Igali is a native of Nigeria and Huynh is a decent of immigrants from Vietnam. Rounding out the presenters is French Wrestling Federation executive Lise LeGrand, a former World champion who is a leader within her national feder- ation.
Just prior to World Wrestling Month,
FILA announced an ad campaign entitled, "To wrestle is to be human." The tagline in these ads tells a story which will be crucial to success in St. Petersburg:
“Strength is the power to change.” That change must be demonstrated at the FILA Extraordinary Congress May 18 in Moscow, Russia. Delegates from the 177 national federations will discuss possible changes including new rules, more women in leadership roles and additional athlete involvement in governance. Also under discussion by the world wrestling family will be a decision on the non-Olympic styles associated to FILA. Lalovic will also run for FILA president, seeking to fill the term of Raphael Martinetti who resigned in February. “This will be the time we make our sport better. We are proud of our past, but we’re looking to our future and we will
Continued on page 6 USA Wrestler 5
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