TNA wrestler Kurt Angle spoke to Fox Sports today about the about the International Olympic Committee’s decision to drop wrestling from the Olympics, starting in 2020. Angle, who won a gold medal for wrestling in 1996, told Fox:
“We’re going to fight this. They can’t just drop it. They’re keeping badminton and that sport where you jump on a trampoline, and they’re dropping wrestling. It’s just crazy. I don’t know what this world is coming to. Things are changing.”
Angle also tweeted today:
@Jeff_gfc: #SaveOlympicWrestling winning a gold medal with a broken neck!!! @RealKurtAngle
— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) February 12, 2013
#saveolympicwrestling. Show Your Love for the Sport. IOC Must Reverse Decision. Trend It Worldwide. #USAWrestling #TNAWrestling
— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) February 12, 2013
@eat_us_hsa: @RealKurtAngle so you can still earn a gold medal for making a horse dance but you can't earn one for wrestling suchBS #sav …
— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) February 12, 2013
The Fox Sports report also notes that fellow gold medalist Dan Gable, who is the name-sake to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, plans to fight the decision. 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs tweeted:
“It’s not over yet. We will keep fighting to save the sport we love. Don’t stop dreaming and don’t stop believing
Bruce Braley, a congressman from the prominent wrestling state of Iowa, tweeted:
“Outrageous decision by @IOCMedia @Olympics to drop Wrestling from the Olympics. One of @Olympics oldest sports — absurd.”
Even Scott Blackmun, the CEO of the United States Olympic Committee, said Tuesday he was surprised about the decision, given the “history and tradition of wrestling, and its popularity and universality.”
A final vote by the IOC to eliminate wrestling from the Olympics will take place in September.
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