Wrestling officials around the globe are condemning the International Olympic Committee's decision to drop the sport from its list of "Core Sports" beginning with the 2020 Summer Olympic Game.  The Wrestling tradition, Greco-Roman and Freestyle, goes back to the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.

The International Olympic Committee executive board says in evaluating its core sports, it was not a matter of what was "wrong" with Wrestling, but what was "right" with the other events.  "Right" includes 39 criteria, such as television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity.  The board may also have considered personal, political, and national issues in choosing its favorite events.

The world's wrestling authorities will not have to compete for a spot in the 2020 games, vying alongside sports such as Baseball, Softball, Wushu, and Karate.  The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC session, or general assembly, in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.