Wrestling in the Olympics?

[paulWTAMU]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/sport ... .html?_r=0

Is anyone else kind of appalled that they're dropping wrestling while keeping stuff like dressage and wakeboarding? Am I being a stick in the mud?

[sircharles32]

Does seem a bit odd.
Wrestling seems to be a more pure test of strength and athleticism and would seem to belong in the Olympics.
Yes, seems a bit weird to me.

[jihadjoe]

Wrestling was in the olympics since the times when we all spoke Greek.
This is a travesty!

[DancinJack]

Pretty weak. One of the original Olympic sports.

As a lifelong wrestler I find this disgusting. Not that everyone else shouldn't as well.

[shaq_mobile]

At least they still have curling!

[Flying Fox]

What events get included, where to host the event, they are now more politics than anything else.

[Dirge]

Personally I have no interest in wrestling and wont miss it, but it is a bit weird to see one of the founding games removed from the Olympics. Presumably allot of other people don't care either way. It has been pretty clear to me for a while that the Olympics is just another business. They are looking for airtime and I guess wrestling doesn't attract enough eyes on screen.

[UberGerbil]

I have no interest in wrestling (Greco-Roman or Eroto-WWE) but as one of the "original" Olympic sports I would think it deserves to remain. (I suspect one issue is the number of wrestling contests and participants, since there are so many weight classes for both men and women)

I don't really care, but since the Olympics wants to add new sports and (apparently) needs to prune existing sports to do so, the philosophical framework for making these decisions that makes sense to me is to only allow sports where the source of energy is human muscle or gravity. So the equestrian events would go away (not primarily human muscle) and the sailing events (likewise) as would the shooting events (chemical power). You could hang onto the Winter Biathalon if they made the shooting portion archery, which would be more fun anyway. Skydiving would present an interesting problem if it was an event, but it isn't and probably never will be.

What events get included, where to host the event, they are now more politics than anything else.

Politics and marketing. Sports that command large TV audiences in countries where the networks have a lot of money to throw at the Olympics will tend to bubble to the top. Wrestling is a big deal in Mongolia but their TV network isn't going to have much influence on the IOC. The IOC is also very Euro-centric, so sports that aren't as popular there (like baseball and softball) will tend to get cut while others (like team handball) remain.

[vargis14]

Its unbelievable......I see no reason why they had to drop one of the most important olympic sports as was previously stated has been going on since roman times. Its a outrage.
I wrestled H.S & junior olympics and wrestling is a grueling sport. Nothing has ever made me more tired and out of breath in my life.

Curling is a joke! you do not have to be physically fit at all...I though skill and fitness is what the olympics was all about, I am so mad................................Kicks dog...punches wife...wife punches back while great dane bites me Joke

[Flying Fox]

Curling is a joke! you do not have to be physically fit at all...I though skill and fitness is what the olympics was all about, I am so mad................................Kicks dog...punches wife...wife punches back while great dane bites me Joke

You have no idea how hard the top curling teams train. Granted it may be less than some other sports, but curling has its physical demands. Plus you have to be dead accurate in the process. Those rocks are 44lbs each. Trying throwing them all day with power and precision. Or sweep the ice the whole day while maintaining balance on the ice.

[UberGerbil]

Not to mention that the Winter and Summer are separate Olympics, so it's not like eliminating curling would somehow make more room for wrestling. And target shooting doesn't require much strength or aerobic fitness either, but it's still pretty difficult to do at the Olympic level.

[Sargent Duck]

I've never watched Wrestling (then again, I don't bother watching the Olympics since it's so corrupt), but it's a sport that ALL nations (regardless of wealth can participate in) and it is one of the original sports. It's much better than some of the Horse events, like horse showing. Faster, Higher farther? Nope, none of those, but make sure that horse can trot around the ring *snort*. Absolute garbage. I personally think any Equstrian event should be dropped from the Olympics. That's a pretty elite activity (read: $$$) that not all nations can participate in. That, and it's boring to watch a horse dance about.

But what do I know? I'm not getting paid millions of dollars and hookers to make these decisions.

[JohnC]

Hmm... They are saying they want to have more "telegenic" sports and the ones that would attract younger generation... Maybe they should've modified wrestling (instead of dropping it) to something like "women's mud wrestling" or something like this, where athletes would have to wear swimsuits and wrestle in some kind of slippery substance like "mud" or oil or something? That should be "telegenic" enough

[Sargent Duck]

Curling is a joke!

There are many jokes in the Olympics. Like...walking. Yes, Olympic walking. Or field hockey? How about we make it real road hockey.

[Captain Ned]

Bring back the pankration. You want ratings?? You'll get ratings.

[Turkina]

There are many jokes in the Olympics. Like...walking. Yes, Olympic walking.

There are indeed jokes - Olympic 20km / 50km racewalking however is not one of them. Yes, it looks ridiculous, but these are people that *walk* ~7 minute miles. For 12 or 31 miles.

[Captain Ned]

There are indeed jokes - Olympic 20km / 50km racewalking however is not one of them. Yes, it looks ridiculous, but these are people that *walk* ~7 minute miles. For 12 or 31 miles.

Back in HS when I ran/threw track & field a bunch of us tried racewalking just to see if we could do it. Going that fast while always having one foot on the ground is a whole lot harder than it looks and there is major technique involved in Olympic-level race walking.

After 440 yards (a hint to when I was in HS, and once around the track) my butt and shins were killing me and my lower spine was about to collapse. No, racewalking is a true athletic sport.

[TurtlePerson2]

It's kind of strange that they would remove wrestling for being irrelevant while the discus throw remains in the games. I guess the people on the secret committee come from countries that don't do well in wrestling.

[vargis14]

You have no idea how hard the top curling teams train. Granted it may be less than some other sports, but curling has its physical demands. Plus you have to be dead accurate in the process. Those rocks are 44lbs each. Trying throwing them all day with power and precision. Or sweep the ice the whole day while maintaining balance on the ice.

This is my opinion but bowling looks harder then curling. Its not like they have to bowl that 44lb rock they are sliding it on ice at a very slow speed a child could do with no problem...sure it may take skill but the only ones working are the sweepers and i am pretty sure they have special felt shoes so they do not slip.
Want to see a comedy show , put some regular dress shoes on them all I bet you would see a lot of butts hitting the ice.

Shuffleboard on ice.

[Deanjo]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/sports/olympics-may-drop-wrestling-in-2020.html?_r=0

Is anyone else kind of appalled that they're dropping wrestling while keeping stuff like dressage and wakeboarding? Am I being a stick in the mud?

Probably making room to bring in MMA which would gather a lot more media attention and boost viewership.

[Captain Ned]

This is my opinion but bowling looks harder then curling. Its not like they have to bowl that 44lb rock they are sliding it on ice at a very slow speed a child could do with no problem...sure it may take skill but the only ones working are the sweepers and i am pretty sure they have special felt shoes so they do not slip.

Get back to me when you can make the rock curve to the exact point the skip picks out with the exact weight requested by the skip with at least 85% performance or better. As for the sweepers they wear a grip pad over one shoe and slide on the other foot. Pulling a rock several feet past where it really wants to die is Hard Work.

Living where I do and having CBC on the cable plan means I watch a lot of curling over the winter months.

[tanker27]

Probably making room to bring in MMA which would gather a lot more media attention and boost viewership.

That would be cool. But MMA is too bloody at times.

[Flying Fox]

This is my opinion but bowling looks harder then curling.

Both have their difficulties and demands. Does not mean that it is not a sport. Of course, whether it is Olympic sport is a different matter.

Its not like they have to bowl that 44lb rock they are sliding it on ice at a very slow speed a child could do with no problem...

Not 100mph as in baseball yes, but I would not call a big weight triple takeout shot "very slow". To move 3 other 44lbs rocks requires quite a bit of energy.

sure it may take skill but the only ones working are the sweepers

In "classic" play, the 3 people other than the skip take turns sweeping, not just 2. And skill is important in almost any sport, not just power. Modern day curling tournaments you play round-robin in like a 10/12-team pool, with 2 games per day for the entire week. And then there is practice during the days and in between tournaments. Those at the elite level play lots of tournaments and the grind can be taxing. In the past you see curlers drinking and people playing with big bellies and such. Not anymore.

i am pretty sure they have special felt shoes so they do not slip.

If both feet stick to the ice then you can't slide. They have one foot sliding and the other with grip. I remember the first time I stepped on a curling rink throwing my first stone, and I could not even get the balance right and just rolled over. Then you have to control the power of your shot (just blasting everything will not win you any games), to aim properly, account for the curls (bending), judge the ice conditions at the instant, think about strategy, (and then there is the screaming) etc. It is not easy.

Take a look (some of those may be luck, but these guys are doing it all the time):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvEPMUmTaWY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kE5QzOprns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzz1ARHstnQ

[bernardo78]

I can't wait for rock climbing in the Olympics. That will surely give me a reason to watch.

[lilbuddhaman]

Probably making room to bring in MMA which would gather a lot more media attention and boost viewership.

That would be cool. But MMA is too bloody at times.

It would turn into Kumate, with a monstrous north korean "accidentally" breaking someone's neck.

[Captain Ned]

Probably making room to bring in MMA which would gather a lot more media attention and boost viewership.

That would be cool. But MMA is too bloody at times.

It would turn into Kumate, with a monstrous north korean "accidentally" breaking someone's neck.

The rules already exist and come from the original Olympic Era. It's called pankration.

[cynan]

Living where I do and having CBC on the cable plan means I watch a lot of curling over the winter months.

Lol. You watch CBC? I remember growing up across the border in the Montreal area, over 20 years ago now, and trying to get a handful of American channels, endlessly playing with the rabbit ears. I can't stand 90% of Canadian television. CBC radio, on the other hand, has some top notch content, although too bad much of it is filler garbage. I guess if you only watch sports on CBC, then that's OK . Sports coverage is sports coverage.

And as for curling. Yes it requires skill. Of course it does. Any sport, especially at the elite level requires gobs of skill, practice, training, etc. But the fact remains that curling will never be a very physical sport in relative terms. It requries lots of coordination and precision, but little strength and practically no endurance - though they do compensate a bit with all that yelling (which can get awkward if watching in the next room to people who aren't familiar with it: "Go hard! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry hard! HAARD!!" )

[Captain Ned]

(which can get awkward if watching in the next room to people who aren't familiar with it: "Go hard! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry hard! HAARD!!" )

How else would you know the skip is Russ Howard?

[TheEmrys]

I don't know how wrestling could be dropped. Sooo many other drop-worthy candidates exist. Like.... kayaking/canoeing. Or shoot, badminton, after the scandal they had. It would "serve" them right.

[Flying Fox]

(which can get awkward if watching in the next room to people who aren't familiar with it: "Go hard! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry hard! HAARD!!" )

How else would you know the skip is Russ Howard?

Or a lot of the female skips?

I don't buy the no endurance thing. You have to last through a whole tournament playing multiple games, nowadays with the shot clock and stuff it is down to 2 hours. It used to be able to go up to 3 (may be 2.5). You have to be constantly thinking and stay focus, plus to execute the shots with power and precision as the situation called for it. Sure it is not triathlon endurance, but if you expect to last till the end of a tournament, you have to have good fitness in general too. Just look at John Morris.

Another frequently dissed "sport" is racing. Being able to withstand all the G forces for 2+ hours, and to be able to maintain focus the whole time. There is definitely endurance to that.