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Wrestling will be in the Olympics after 2016.
After presentations by squash, baseball/softball, and wrestling before the assembled International Olympic Committee this morning in Argentina, and subsequent question and answer sessions, the IOC voted to admit wrestling back into the Olympic Games.
It only took one vote, wrestling received 49 votes, it needed 48.
Baseball/softball and squash made persuasive cases aided by slick and appealing video presentations. Wrestling, however, won the day with the help of the sincerity of new FILA president, and a contingent of articulate and polished former athletes.
Wrestling, the world's oldest sport, almost died today, but it lives to see new frontiers. Hopefully those responsible for the safekeeping of the sport remember to not stand idly by and repeat the mistakes of the past, and are able to supply a sport that is modern and fresh. Wrestling's storied past probably played a huge role in its re-admittance to the Olympic program, but now the focus sits squarely on the future it now possesses.
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