On
Tuesday the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
announced 25 Core Sports for the 2020 Olympic Games dropping one of the
original Olympic sports: wrestling. Wrestling will now have to fight to remain a
part of the 2020 games. TNA IMPACT WRESTLING is home to 1996 Olympic Gold
Medalist Kurt Angle and is dedicated to change this decision.
The IOC
stated reasoning for the decision, according to the report, was an analysis of
"more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales,
anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. The IOC has decided
to keep recreational sports such as badminton, handball and table tennis in the
25 Core Sports category and to delete one of the oldest Olympic sport that
premiered in the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.
Kurt Angle is
considered the best wrestler of all time to be in both amateur and professional
wrestling and is gearing up to fight this decision and organize a battalion of
like minds to save this Olympic sport.
Wrestling is one of the most
competitive sports in the world today, stated TNA Superstar and 1996 Gold
Medalist Kurt Angle. Winning the gold for my country in one of the original
Olympic sports was one of the greatest moments in my life.
The wrestling
community is in a state of shock with this decision we can not sit back and
allow this to happen. I will do whatever it takes and work with my company TNA
WRESTLING and the competitive wrestling community to determine what we need to
do to reverse this decision.
The news from the IOC is very
disheartening to all of us at TNA as well as the tens of millions around the
world who either participate in amateur wrestling or enjoy watching it in its
entertainment form, stated TNA President Dixie Carter. We need to join
together right now. We encourage our own IMPACT WRESTLING community, WWE and
wrestling organizations worldwide as well as competitive amateur coaches and
athletes to have a unified voice to make sure wrestling will be an Olympic sport
in 2020.
TNA encourages fans to take to social media to let your voices
be heard. Speak out using
#SaveOlympicWrestling and
@OlympicsView the full article
