In the wake of the International Olympics Committee’s decision earlier this week to drop wrestling from the 2020 games, Gainesville athletes and experts are expressing concern over the impacts of the decision.
Throwing out wrestling might not only disappoint viewers, but it could discourage young athletes from pursuing the sport, said Josh Weinberg, a 20-year-old biology sophomore and captain of UF’s wrestling club.
“I think wrestling is a sport that changes lives,” he said. “I think that kids ... won’t do it because they won’t be able to go as far as they want to.”
However, Gainesville High School wrestling head coach Ryland Wagner said it shouldn’t discourage young wrestlers because most are dreaming of short-term goals such as becoming a high school champion.
“I don’t feel like it will affect the kids individually across the board,” he said. “It’s very rare that you get a kid saying, ‘My goal is to be an Olympic champion.’”
Zaman Abbas, a 22-year-old sport management senior and vice president of UF’s wrestling club, said the decision will probably not be finalized.
“I definitely think it’s going to be overturned,” he said.
Kyriaki Kaplanidou, an assistant professor in UF’s department of tourism, recreation and sport management, said cutting wrestling is a choice between tradition and finances.
“There’s a contradiction because wrestling is a historical component of the games themselves,” she said.
She said the cut is partially to cater to a younger Olympics viewing audience.
The committee examined TV ratings and ticket sales, she said, to gauge the audience’s interest levels in different sports and found wrestling lagging. It has been short-listed with seven other sports, including karate, wakeboarding, softball and baseball, according to an International Olympics Committee release.
Kaplanidou said an international wrestling organization is taking the clue and discussing what needs to be done to appeal to a younger demographic.
Brandon Russakis, 29, a mechanical engineering junior, pins Josh Weinberg, 20, a biology sophomore, at wrestling practice at Southwest Recreation Center on Thursday night.
