Wrestling dropped from 2020 Olympics

[vertical_doug]

to be replaced with either Squash, Roller Sport (skateboarding), wakeboarding, Wushu, Golf or Karate.

I am really starting to dislike the Olympics.

[bdaghisallo]

I stopped liking them years ago. The Olympics are a business. They don't give a shit about sports and athletic achievement. They only care for the dollars that can be funneled to the bank accounts of IOC members. Let's not forget that Hein Verbruggen is a member of the IOC and, until recently, Pat McQuaid was involved too. Imagine the corruption, complicity and back-handed dealing of the UCI, but orders of magnitude higher, and you'll have the IOC.

I simply astounds me that nations and cities beg to be selected to spend billions of dollars they don't have in order to put up with the hassle and inconvenience of hosting an Olympic Games.

[christian]

Well, the ancient Greeks did engage in a lot of Roller Sport, so this makes sense.

[dbrk]

Spectacle hasn't changed, just the size of the pictures. Ask Norma.

[holliscx]

I will never understand racewalking .. either run or walk but don't walk fast right on the edge of running and call it a sport. Bob Costas said it's a competition for who can whisper the loudest.

2005_World_Championships_in_Athletics2.jpg

Men's 20-km walk during the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland. Notice that the walker at the right appears to be illegal in that both feet are off the ground, but an infraction is only committed when the loss of contact is visible to the human eye.

[skouri1]

I will never understand racewalking .. either run or walk but don't walk fast right on the edge of running and call it a sport. Bob Costas said it's a competition for who can whisper the loudest.

Ya, I'm sorry to be dismissive, but I find race walking to be ridiculous. It's sort of the human equivalent of the horse trot.

[Tom]

You can't be serious. Maybe it is time to start up a throwback Olympics, nothing but old style war sports. That's what the original was sublimating, I think. Could you run down a guy, wrestle him to the ground and beat him with your fists? No? How about spearing him from 150 yards off or hit him with a rock from 50? Could you jump over his moat and then use a pole to get over his wall? That kind of stuff.

Nowadays it's can you twirl a ribbon prettier.

Jesus, when did I turn into a grumpy old guy?

[happycampyer]

If the IOC could drop bathing suits from women's volleyball, they would. Heck, the ancient Greeks wrestled naked.

[Jonathan]

I think being dismissive of any participant sport borders on lame.

I did a 5k on a whim about 10 years ago after not running since college. The race walkers who started behind us caught me by the second mile.it looks goofy, but I applaud anyone not sitting on the couch.

[David Tollefson]

2005_World_Championships_in_Athletics2.jpg

That guy in front is committing a foul... both feet off the ground.

[caleb]

"Next we need to get rid of that pesky marathon. It doesn't sell many tickets, the course is a pain in the butt to set up, security is a nightmare, and the TV ratings are abysmal. I see a motocross big air competition in the future." -The IOC

[SteveP]

its like any other business.
question for the board
" how many eyes watched the wrestling last 3 olympics"
answer
" not enough"

next
lot of chinese will watch wushu*
go for it

* i admit i dont know what this is and i guarantee i 2wont watch it.

[j44ke]

If the IOC could drop bathing suits from women's volleyball, they would. Heck, the ancient Greeks wrestled naked.

Everyone naked. I think that is definitely the answer. The ratings would go through the roof.

Even curling. They should do curling naked. In fact, I think naked winter Olympics would make everything a lot more challenging.

All this wearing clothes stuff is for wimps.

[Matthew Strongin]

Men's 20-km walk during the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland. Notice that the walker at the right appears to be illegal in that both feet are off the ground, but an infraction is only committed when the loss of contact is visible to the human eye.

A sport loses credibility for me when running is cheating.

[big shanty]

Exactly. Go walk a sub 7-minute mile and then get back to me.

[RickM]

You can't be serious. Maybe it is time to start up a throwback Olympics, nothing but old style war sports. Nowadays it's can you twirl a ribbon prettier.

Modern Pentathlon Forever!!!!!

[caleb]

Modern Pentathlon Forever!!!!!

So baller.

[Jaq]

Pentathlon is so cool. Wasn't it because the Frenchman who brought back the Olympics had been a cavalry officer, and those five events were something a cavalryman should be able to do if caught behind the lines? Now all you have to do is elude a bunch of dimwitted Eastern Euros until Gene Hackman can send in cruise missiles.

It's just not the same.

[Saab2000]

Was Pucci a participant in the original Olympics or just a judge? I don't remember.

[lukasz]

He was the inspiration.

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