Wrestling suffers painful pin

Wrestling recently took a shot on the chin as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has struck out the sport from its calendar for the 2020 Summer Games with federation president Raphael Martinetti reportedly forced to resign because of the expulsion.

The IOC went through a process to introduce two new sports for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, adding to its core of 25. Golf and rugby 7s were chosen for inclusion starting 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Another sport will be introduced in 2020 and to clear the way, the IOC delisted wrestling after a deliberation that also considered the removal of modern pentathlon, taekwondo and table tennis.

It’s not over for wrestling, however, as the sport will be reconsidered when the IOC Executive Board convenes in St. Petersburg, Russia, in May. The Board will pick three from the eight sports to recommend to the IOC Congress in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7-10. Wrestling will join baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, sportclimbing, wakeboarding, wushu and squash as candidate sports.   At the moment, wrestling is no longer in the core of 25 sports plus golf and rugby 7s for 2020. The IOC’s objective is to set 28 sports with about 300 events for roughly 10,500 athletes for the 2020 edition The September meeting will also decide the city to host the 2020 Olympics with Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul vying for the right and the successor of IOC president Jacques Rogge who is retiring after a 12-year term.

The standards to review in assessing each candidate sport are history and tradition, universality (played in at least 75 countries and four continents by men and in at least 40 countries and three continents by women), image, disciplinary features, athletes’ health, development of its international federation and cost.   

Wrestling was voted out because the IOC felt there was little global media interest and the Greco-Roman style had lost its relevance. In the Olympic program, wrestling involves two styles of competition – Greco-Roman and freestyle. Greco-Roman prohibits wrestlers to use their legs to make contact or the use of the arms below the opponent’s waist while freestyle has no restrictions. There are seven weight classes in both styles for men and only four weight divisions in freestyle for women. At the London Games, 29 countries shared wrestling medals. 

* * * *

A London Olympics media guidebook said “it would be hard to imagine London 2012 taking place without wrestling being included as part of the program … with the sport able to trace its origins all the way back to the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC.” In the London Olympics official program, it was mentioned “records show that wresting is one of the world’s oldest sports – it was part of the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC, it was included at the first modern Games, Athens 1896, in Greco-Roman form and freestyle was introduced at the St. Louis 1904 Games … women’s freestyle made its debut in Athens 2004.”

Several Filipinos have participated in Olympic wrestling – bantamweight Francisco Vicera in 1948, featherweight Gonzalo Monte-Manibog and Florentino Real in 1952, Nicolas Arcales, Ernesto Ramel and Mateo Tanaquin in 1956, Fernando Garcia, Job Mayo, Jr., Antonio Senosa and Tortillano Tumasis in 1964, Rogelio Famatid, Eliseo Salugta, Senosa and Tumasis in 1968, Famatid, Salugta and Arturo Tanaquin in 1972 and Dean Carlos Manibog and Florentino Tirante in 1988.

At the second Asian Games in Manila in 1954, the Philippines collected three medals in wrestling – middleweight Nicolas Arcales and featherweight Mansueto Napilay with a silver apiece and flyweight Basilio Fabila with a bronze. It was the only year in Asian Games history that the Philippines claimed at least a medal in wrestling. At the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia in 2011, Greco-Roman wrestlers Margarito Angana (55 kg.) and Jason Balabal (84 kg.) struck gold for the Philippines.

Wrestling has been a fixture in every modern Olympic calendar since 1896 and was absent only at the 1900 Games. In 2009, there was hardly any uproar when baseball and softball were taken out of the schedule to usher in golf and rugby 7s. But wrestling’s expulsion has raised a furor. “The reason there was such a uproar round the world to wrestling’s expulsion is because of its history and being a symbol of the essence of that the Games are about,” an IOC member was quoted by the Agence France Presse. 

* * * *

Given a choice, the Philippines would no doubt choose wushu from among the eight candidate sports because of its championship history in the Chinese martial art. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, wushu was a demonstration sport and the Philippines brought home a gold (Willy Wang, nanquan and nangun combined), a silver (Mary Jane Estimar, sanshou 52 kg. women) and two bronzes (Benjie Rivera, sanshou 56 kg. men and Mariane Mariano, sanshou 60 kg. women). 

If Istanbul or Tokyo wins the bid to host the 2020 calendar, the probability is wrestling will be reinstated. “In the end, wrestling’s future may well rest on who wins the bid to host the Games as their vote takes place after the vote on the bid city,” said AFP. “A win for Tokyo or Istanbul (both of whom have strong traditions in the sport) would boost their chances but perhaps not so if Madrid is named host city.”

A sport that is gaining ground for inclusion in the Olympics is squash whose bid is being supported by tennis star Roger Federer. It passes the conditions of universality, disciplinary features, athletes’ health, development of the international federation and cost. Wrestling has the edge over squash in terms of history and tradition but the IOC appears to be veering towards a modern approach to reach out to a growing youth market.