Executive Board of International Olympic Committee (IOC) met on Tuesday to decide which game should be dropped from 2020 Olympic games to make way for a new sport.
IOC decided to drop WRESTLING from the list including games like Badminton, taekwondo and modern pentathlon. The sports were rated on 39 different criteria including television ratings and ticket sales based on the 2012 London Games.
Wrestling, however, is part of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Wrestling will now have to make its bid for Olympic inclusion alongside softball, baseball, squash, karate, sport climbing, wakeboarding, wushu and rollersports at St. Petersburg in May.
Wrestling has brought India medals from the last two Olympics. Two of India' six medals at the London Olympics came from wrestling, courtesy Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar. Sushil also won one of India's three medals at the 2008 Beijing edition.
Indian wrestling community has been left in state of shock after this decision.
Sushil Kumar, India's only double individual Olympic medallist, said, "It is a huge setback for the sport. It came as a complete shocker. I cannot believe that IOC can take such a harsh decision about one of the oldest sports in the Olympics".
"The sport was looking up in India. It had a bright future. Lot of youngsters were taking up the sport, especially after our success at the London Games. But now the blow will take the sport backward in India," Sushil added.
Yogeshwar Dutt, who won a silver medal at the London Games said, "I am surprised with IOC's decision because it is played in all the 209 member countries of FILA (international wrestling body). It is also a very spectator-friendly sport. I see no logic behind removing wrestling from 2020".
"Why will the youngsters take up wrestling any more? There were so many long-term programmes planned till 2020 and now all will be shelved. There also won't be any government support since wrestling no longer will be an Olympic sport," Yogeshwar added.
Sushil and Yogeshwar's coach Yashvir Singh said, "It is a Black Day for wrestling. We had already planned for the 2020 Games. We had a pool of 25 wrestlers for the next two Olympics. The government was giving us all support for the Olympics. Now there will be a big question on all these plans if wrestling no longer remains an Olympic sport".
India's wrestling community, including Olympic medal winners and, was in a state of shock after the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision Tuesday to remove the sport from the 2020 edition of the Games.
Wrestling, which includes freestyle and Greco-Roman events, has been a part of the Olympics since the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.
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