Wrestling has retained its place on the Olympic sports
programme after winning a clear-cut victory over its two rivals in
the Argentinean capital.
On a day described
by Nenad Lalovic (pictured), President of the International Federation
of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), as "the most important in the
3,000-year history of our sport", wrestling polled 49 votes to win in
the first of a possible two rounds of voting.
Baseball-softball came second with 24 votes, with squash third with 22.
The
decision means wrestling will take its place at the 2020 Olympic Games
in Tokyo, as it has at all Olympics since 708 BC, with the exception of
Paris 1900; there is a chance, indeed, that the sport could be thrust
quickly into the spotlight in the Japanese capital, as a possible source
of the host nation's first gold medal of the Games.
Universally
perceived as the likeliest winner in this three-way contest, it was
little surprise that wrestling took few risks in its presentation to
International Olympic Committee (IOC) members.
Lalovic himself,
who more than anyone has revived the sport's prospects since its
surprise ejection from the list of Olympic core sports in February, was
dignified and presidential.
Afterwards, he offered his "sincere
gratitude" to "each member of the IOC that voted to save Olympic
wrestling", while appealing to the sport to "remain united to make
certain we live up to the expectations that have been placed on all of
us by virtue of this vote".
There is no doubt the sport would do
well to heed his plea: though it was a comfortable victory, IOC members
left the presentation team in no doubt that they would remain very much
under scrutiny with a string of probing questions relating to rule
changes, gender parity and other "mistakes", including allegations of
corruption, that first got wrestling into trouble.
"We have made mistakes," Lalovic admitted, "but we decided to listen and learn.
"We are aware of our mistakes and they will not happen again."
One
hallmark of a winning presentation which shrewdly did not dwell too
much on wrestling's unique Olympic heritage, was an air of authenticity
stemming from a sense that the athletes who spoke contributed heavily to
writing their own scripts.
Sydney 2000 gold medallist Daniel
Igali spoke candidly of how his enthusiasm for the Olympics as a child
in Nigeria was instilled partly because it would mean he got to fly on
an aeroplane.
Canada's Beijing 2008 gold medallist Carol Huynh
admitted with a smile that wrestlers could be "maybe just a little
stubborn", adding: "It takes courage to step out on the mat with that
tight singlet on".
Wrestling's pitch also featured what was
possibly the first "appearance" at an IOC Session by rap artist Dizzee
Rascal, whose song "Scream it from your heart" provided a stirring
soundtrack for one of the films.
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