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Wrestling: US, Iran, Russia unite on the mat

Agence France-PresseMay 15, 2013 23:00
Call it peace through fighting, but wrestlers from the United States, Iran and Russia provided New York with an unusual vision of international harmony when they took to the mat Wednesday. The top-level sportsmen, grappling in an ornate side hall of Grand Central rail station in Manhattan, met as part of a campaign to persuade the International Olympic Committee to go back on its shock decision to scrap wrestling after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Wrestling: Putin backs wrestling for Olympics

March 13, 2013 13:20
Russian President Vladimir Putin has put his weight behind wrestling's bid to remain in the Olympic programme after the ancient sport was nominated for exclusion from the 2020 Games. Putin, who is a judo black belt and known for his love of wrestling and martial arts, said he would look to discuss the issue with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). "The exclusion of traditional sports, which were primordial in the Olympic programme since the times of ancient Greece, seems to be unjustified," Ria-Novosti news agency quoted Putin as saying.

Olympics-'Amazed' Coates thinks wrestling likely to survive

March 6, 2013 03:00
By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY, March 6 (Reuters) - Leading Olympic official John Coates was "amazed" that wrestling was recommended for the axe from the Summer Games last month and thinks the sport still has a very good chance of retaining its place in the programme. The Australian is one of 14 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board who voted in Lausanne to recommend wrestling be dropped from the Games after 2016. The board's 15th member, IOC President Jacques Rogge, did not vote.

Wrestling: US, Iran leaders unite to fight Olympic ouster

March 1, 2013 18:16
Wrestling leaders from political foes Iran and the United States have united as part of a coalition of nations trying to keep the sport from being dumped from the Olympic lineup. Together with Russia and other world powers in freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines, the US and Iran came together last month when the Americans competed in the World Cup at Tehran.

Olympics-Japan launches petition site to lobby for wrestling

February 25, 2013 07:15
Feb 25 (Reuters) - The Japan Wrestling Federation (JWF) has launched an online petition site seeking 100,000 signatures to help the sport remain an Olympic discipline. The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) executive board made a surprise recommendation this month to drop the sport from the 2020 Games, leaving wrestling to fight with seven other disciplines for one vacant spot when the board meets in May.

Olympics-Champion Sanderson saddened by IOC recommendation

February 13, 2013 10:46
By Steve Ginsburg WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Former champion Cael Sanderson said on Tuesday he was saddened wrestling was on the Olympic chopping block but remained optimistic the sport would ultimately remain in the Games. "Wrestling and the Olympics go hand-in-hand," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "When you start taking the original sports away from the Olympics, you really change what the Olympic Games are. "What are you going to do next, change the name of the Olympics?"
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