KEEP WRESTLING IN THE OLYMPICS
Sport builds momentum during huge month of May
By Gary Abbott Wrestling has cleared the first major hurdle in its effort to retain the sport on the Olympic program, a big boost to the Keep Olympic Wrestling movement. On May 29, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the International Olympic Committee Executive Board selected wrestling among three sports for the short list of candidate sports for the final provisional sport spot in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. The other sports which were named to the short list of sports were squash and baseball/softball. Wrestling was selected on the first round of the vot- ing, receiving the required eight votes right off the bat. These three sports will be presented for a final vote by the entire IOC General Assembly in its meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September. Only one of these sports will be included in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics. The sports which were not selected to advance to the final vote in Buenos Aires were karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.
FILA, the international wrestling federa- tion made its presentation to the IOC Executive Board with an all-star group of wrestling leaders, including new FILA President Nenad Lalovic of Serbia and four past Olympic athletes, Jim Scherr of the United States, Carol Huynh of Canada, Daniel Igali of Nigeria and Canada and Lise Legrand of France. Across the board, feedback indicated that the wrestling presenters did a tremendous job. Jim Scherr, a former USA Wrestling Executive Director and CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, helped FILA in forming its strategy, and went through a number of practice ses- sions with the other presenters to make sure they were ready. Scherr is also a leader on the Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling (CPOW), which is the U.S. group leading the effort in our nation. "The first part of the process is com- plete, and we're on to the next and most important part of the process. There is a
FILA President Nenad Lalovic talks with reporters at the International Olympic Committee Executive Board Meeting on May 29 in St. Petersburg, Russia as USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender looks on. Bob Condron photo.
lot of work ahead, but we're up to the challenge,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender.
"This outcome was made possible by the hard work and dedication of the worldwide wrestling community,” said USA Wrestling President Jim Ravannack. "We are jubilant yet humbled by the IOC decision as we realize that it is a recognition of our hard work in reforming the governance of the sport and changing the rules and presentation of wrestling,” said CPOW chairman Bill Scherr. Going into the vote, there were some indications that wrestling had made a strong effort to present its case to the world that it should remain in the Olympics.
Just days before the key vote, wrestling showed its worldwide popularity by winning an important online poll. Inside the Games, a leading Olympic website, asked a simple question during May. The poll asked: Which sport do you think the IOC should vote to include on the Olympic program for 2020? Voters could select from the eight sports under
consideration by the IOC. Wrestling won the poll with over 42 percent of the total, with over 134,000 votes cast in favor of wrestling. Squash was second with 32 percent, with karate a distant third with just 16 percent.
In an interview with the Associated Press, IOC President Jacques Rogge made positive statements about the changes in wrestling right before the vote. “I think they had the good answer and the good reaction," said Rogge. He continued, saying "the federation definite- ly understood the reasons why they were ousted, and they reacted what they nor- mally should have done.” One of the factors in wrestling’s ability to remain in contention for the final spot in the 2020 Olympic Games was a series of changes enacted by FILA in its Extraordinary Congress in Moscow, Russia on May 18. New leadership was approved, when Nenad Lalovic of Serbia was elected as the new President of FILA there. Lalovic was named as FILA’s Acting President in February after the
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