I have had the good fortune to take some really cool trips in my life. When I think back over them, one stands out in particular.
In 1984, I went to Los Angeles with two of my brothers to see the Olympics. Back then, a 16-year-old had a chance to get pretty good Olympic tickets with his two older brothers without breaking the bank.
We found lodging with a sibling of a family friend, managed to get tickets to three of the six freestyle wrestling sessions in the ticket lottery and figured we would just wing it for the rest of our time at the Games.
I will never forget seeing Randy Lewis execute some wacky reach-back throw in his gold medal match or hearing the scream of the Turkish competitor as American Mark Schultz used what was later ruled an illegal hold to break the Turk’s arm. As a young wrestler, I thought I had found heaven even though the Russians and many other top wrestling nations boycotted the Games.
Now we have to wonder if future generations of wrestlers will get a chance to experience the same thing, either in person or on television. The executive board of the International Olympic Committee decided to drop wrestling as a “core sport” starting in 2020.
The upshot is that wrestling will have to fight its way back into that year’s program as well as every other future Olympics. That is, if the IOC doesn’t come to its senses and reverse course.
The whole thing makes no sense to me. On a micro level, I react as a wrestler, as someone who has gained so much from the sport. I couldn’t imagine being who I am today without those long workouts, the painful weight cutting, the friendships forged on long rides crammed into cars, vans and even lounging on buses.
But as a sports fan, I recoil at the whole notion of limiting participation in the Olympics. Some people reacted to the wrestling news by picking the sport they find less worthy and making fun of that. I refuse to do that.
Sure, you may find the idea of table tennis or rhythmic gymnastics or modern pentathlon taking up room on the Olympic program silly, but the people who excel in those sports work their butts off too. They have suffered and sacrificed to get to the top of their game. Why punish them?
I know the Olympics have developed into a huge commercial and political organism. Those Olympics I attended probably represented one of the last ones that people could enjoy simply for the sports. My brothers and I walked up to the gate of a field hockey triple header, bought tickets for less than $5 each and sat in the front row.
Now, you need to plan months ahead of time just to get to any event. I don’t blame the inclusion of pro athletes. I don’t really blame anyone. Times change.
But that’s no reason to start telling people their sport doesn’t have enough TV viewers or doesn’t fit the Olympic ideal to fit some randomly-determined number of “core” sports. Aspects of the Olympics may have changed, but the notion of athletes testing themselves against the best in their sport shouldn’t apply to a select few.
The Olympics need more sports, not fewer. I’ll always believe that whether wrestling gets back in the Games or not.