BUENOS AIRES
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Sunday that wrestling will return to Olympics after seven months in limbo.
The decision was made at the 125th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Wrestling received 49 votes to win in the first round of the secret balloting. Baseball-softball got 24 votes and squash 22.
In February 2013, the IOC had voted to remove the sport from the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The move drew heavy criticism because wrestling has been an integral Olympic sport.
The Committee fixed its decision by voting wrestling back into the program for the 2020 and 2024 Games.
Presenting new leadership and a revamped sport, wrestling easily defeated bids from baseball-softball and squash to regain its Olympic status.
Wrestling elected a new leader and included more women in decision-making roles. In addition, two weight categories were added for women and two were dropped for men.
"I am both excited and emotional. Wrestling is a sport of ancestors and it is also one of the oldest branches of sports," Ahmet Ayik, Vice-President of the International Wrestling Federation Association (FILA), told in press conference in Buenos Aires.
Critisizing the removal decision of wrestling Ayik said they kept us busy in vain for one year with this.
Wrestling goes back to the ancient Olympics held in Greece and has been on the program of every modern games except 1900.
The sport was caught off guard when it was axed by the board — a decision that surprised even most IOC members.
On Sunday, the IOC also agreed on the 25 sports that will form the core for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
The 25 sports, as proposed by the IOC Executive Board in February, are: athletics, rowing, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, weightlifting, handball, hockey, judo, aquatics, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing and volleyball.
Meanwhile, the IOC is set to elect a new president on Tuesday.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
