by Cassie Florido
Nine girls running bases, sprinting after ground balls, and using arm strength to hit the ball. A sport. Two guys using great amounts of energy as they try to pin the other on the mat. A sport. Four people sliding on ice as they slide stones toward a target. A sport? One person jumping up and down on a trampoline. A SPORT? Well, I guess according to the Olympic committee two of these are not qualified to be part of a “sporting” event. Guess which two aren’t qualified.
Yep, apparently the Olympic committee feels the need to take not only softball, but now wrestling out of the Olympic games.
My main question is, aren’t the Olympics a SPORTING event? Last time I checked, most people don’t consider curling and trampolining actual sports.
Not to take anything away from the athletes who put countless hours of work into sliding on ice and doing flips on trampolines, but come on, it makes no sense.
On Tuesday, the Olympic Committee announced that wrestling will be a part of the 2016 Olympics, but will be removed after the upcoming games in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2005, the Committee also voted to expel softball and baseball from the Olympics, which took effect in the 2008 Olympic games.
Yet somehow, every time it seems archery, table tennis, and equestrian make the cut.
Wrestling has been in the Olympics since 708 B.C. That’s a freaking long time. But, now, it’s just gone.
The committee states that one of the main reasons wrestling is being removed from the Olympics is for viewing purposes. But, to me, that doesn’t seem fair to the athletes. I mean come on, how many people are really sitting at home watching synchronized swimming. No thanks. I’m sure a good amount of people would still like to watch wrestling in the Olympics.
Softball, added to the Olympics in 1996, was removed from the Olympics because the games were being dominated by The United States.
However, the US didn’t even win the 2008 Olympics. They were upset by Japan. I guess the committee didn’t expect that one. Maybe the committee should re-vote because personally, softball was one of the most entertaining part of the Olympic games. It’s a shame it was kicked to the curb.
But let’s step away from the sports and think of all the young athletes out there whose Olympics dream have been taken away. People can argue all they want that the sports won’t suffer from this, but in reality, the sports will suffer greatly. Young kids dream of playing sports on the biggest stage for their sport. What’s bigger than the Olympic stage? But now these athletes are being turned away because their sport just doesn’t “qualify” to be in the Olympics.
I think the Olympic committee needs to reevaluate the sports that are selected or unselected for their Olympic games. Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to the table tennis and archery and say welcome back to some REAL sports.
Natalie • Feb 22, 2013 at 1:02 am
I would also like to point out that wrestling has only been a part of the Olympics since 1865 when the first modern games were held. The Olympics in 736 B.C. was one race to the temple of Zeus.
Natalie Nuessle • Feb 21, 2013 at 2:50 pm
As an archer, equestrian teacher, gymnast, and semi-ameture ping pong player, I would like to express my disappointment and offense with your decision that none of these are “on the same level” as baseball and wrestling. The Olympics is not about what “is” and “isn’t” a sport; in many ways, it’s about showing audiences sports that they would not normally view being played on an international level. Baseball and softball weren’t removed because they aren’t sports: they already had international games and recognition outside the olympics, so they were removed as repedative. Cricket, a sport even more popular and widespread than baseball is not played in the Olympics either for similar reasons. Also, it is more difficult and expensive for countries to build a stadium for each sport, and in these difficult times for basically the entire world market, fewer sports means less money that must be spent. So if you must complain that an expensive and unfortunately somewhat unpopular sport will have to compete for a spot in the next Olympics, i.e. it’s not technically out, please don’t complain about a sport where you can be killed at any moment (equestrian), A sport requiring intense focus and very little space (archery and ping pong), a sport which often requires intense, five or six days a week of training, dieting, and risking life-threatening injuries (trampoline or all gymnastics), or anything else you don’t think is “intense enough.”
Jesse Walker- McGraw • Feb 15, 2013 at 9:51 am
I do archery and feel obliged to defend my sport. There is just as much skill involved in this sport as any other sports. With archery, you aim an arrow at a target that looks tiny, and you have to hit a bulls-eye. While you aim, the bow string is fighting to go forward, and you have to hold back what feels like a thousand pounds. I f you don’t hold your arm correctly, you can get such severe bruises that your arm looks yellow. You can feel the string hitting your arm as it flies forward and know that you will have a bruise, but you have to keep practicing till you get bulls-eyes. I have blisters on my fingers after I practice, but I still love it. There is an incredible satisfaction when every arrows hits the bulls-eye, and you know that how ever your arm and fingers hurt, you’ll be shooting again soon.