After a seven month exile, Olympic Wrestling has reclaimed its place on the Olympic stage beating out Squash and a combined bid by Baseball and Softball for the lone remaining spot. A representative from each sport made one final sales pitch about how their sport could strengthen the 21st Century Olympic Brand.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said “wrestling has shown great passion and resilience in the past few months. The sport has taken a number of steps to modernize and improve the sport. Some of these changes include women and athletes in decision making positions and rule changes to make the sport more exciting and easy to understand.”
Rich Bender, executive director of USA Wrestling said it was a costly road back. With a world- wide public relations blitz and lobbying campaign to rally supporters and sway decisions the price tag was in the millions. This will ensure wrestling will be in the Summer Olympics through 2024!
