Breaking News: Wrestling Reinstated for the 2020 Olympics

Image via mojobeijing.wordpress.com

As long as there has been an Olympics, there has been wrestling.  During the ancient Olympiads, wrestlers fought naked covered in olive oil.  And while I wonder why I knew this knowledge offhand this shows how long the history of this noble sport spans.  Which was why it was such a shock for the International Olympic Committee to cut wrestling back in February.

It seemed that wrestling would follow the same path as some other sports which lost their Olympic stature such as Polo, Lacrosse, Golf and Tug of War(seriously Tug of War was an Olympic sport).  What followed in the subsequent months was an uproar from the wrestling and MMA(of whom many were former wrestlers in college or the Olympics) community to keep wrestling in.  Seven months after being cut the IOC has performed an about face, winning reinstatement, beating out squash and baseball/softball.  Considering wrestling's mass appeal in large parts of Asia, eastern Europe and in schools and colleges here it's amazing to think it was cut at all.  I guess you can't keep a good sport on the mat (Ba dum tss).