New life was breathed into the future of wrestling on Sunday, a decision that should serve as a wake-up call for the sport’s leaders to be more aggressive in making changes and keeping the sport modernized for an ever-changing sports audience.
Wrestling, on the verge of being pushed out of the Olympics, was reinstated on Sunday by the International Olympic Committee for the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.
Wrestling topped baseball/softball and squash to regain a spot in the Olympics.
It was an 11th-hour reprieve for one of the oldest sports on earth.
What wrestling was doing on the endangered list is a mystery to us. How in the world did the IOC vote to keep pentathlon but put wrestling on the chopping block during a vote for 25 core sports back in February?
Then, wrestling to beat seven others sports, including baseball/softball and squash in the final three vote, to regain the spot in the Olympics.
This is a sport that goes back to the Ancient Olympiad nearly 3000 years ago. It has been contested in every Olympic games since 1896.
Did wrestling get stale and/or complacent? Absolutely. So, this can be a positive for the sport.
Many wrestling legends, coaches and perhaps future Olympians watched the IOC announcement of the vote on Sunday morning at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The consensus among those involved with the sport was that the past six months has awakened wrestling leaders to changes. It was a wake-up call that wrestling needed.
Now, it is about moving forward and continuing to make changes that will make sport more appealing to young athletes and fans.
The sport needs more action and more scoring. It needs rules that are easier to understand to the casual fan.
Mainly it needs to remember sports must be willing to change in an ever-changing landscape of sports.
We’re guessing the message was clear to wrestling’s leaders.
Change is inevitable for wrestling if it wants to remain relevant on the world stage past the 2024 Olympics.
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