In a huge relief to India and many other nations, Wrestling has been retained at the Olympics Games at least till 2024. In the voting between three sports, Wrestling scored maximum 49 votes, while Baseball-Softball and Squash got 24 and 22 votes respectively. The IOC has admitted its mistake of putting a popular game in the danger zone.
For the last seven months, the fate of Wrestling was completely uncertain. Wrestlers across the world were living in a state of shock and despair till a decision was taken at Buenos Aires on September 7, 2013. The World Wrestling body FILA had a tough time in the last six months to save this Olympics sports.
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According to IOC President Jacques Rogge, “Wrestling has shown great passion and resilience in the last few months. They have taken a number of steps to modernize and improve their sport”.
In India, the decision holds a lot of significance, as this is one sport where Indian sportspersons have done very well at the Olympics. Take example of Sushil Kumar’s Bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics or Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze medal at 2012 London Olympics, Indians have proved their mettle in Wrestling beyond doubt and see more such feats in future too. Hopefully, the latest development will help rejuvenate the Indian wrestlers further.
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