American Rulon Gardner, who upset 3 time Russian champion Alexander Kharelin in an epic championship match, was saddened by the decision to drop what he considered "a beloved sport."
 |
| Rulon Gardner winning his gold medal. (Sept. 27, 2000) |
"It's the IOC trying to change the Olympics to make it more mainstream and more viewer friendly instead of sticking to what they founded the Olympics on," Gardner told ESPN in a telephone interview.
I understand that wrestling isn't as popular with people as other sports. If a person doesn't understand sports, they'll most likely watch ones with simple rules. And I know the average male would watch women in skimpy swimsuits playing volleyball rather than two sweaty guys in spandex touching each other.
Wrestling will still be in the 2016 Olympics. And if enough support is gained, they could bring it back for the 2020 Olympics, as well as further into the future. But, for now I guess we'll just have to stick to watching "real" Olympic sports such as speed walking, dressage (horse dancing), and synchronized swimming.
Hahahaha! I loved the ending and how you tied it all together. I think the picture was a great visual to your piece as well! Good job!
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job writing this! I had no idea that they made the decision to take wrestling out of the Olympics but you made it simple enough that I could understand everything you were talking about. I like how you quoted a person from ESPN and the ending was super funny!
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a good job writing this and organizing your information! I really was interested in all the facts you had in here and I think it's crazy that they are not having wrestling in the Olympics! I really enjoyed you ending paragraph! I thought it really expressed your personality and your sense of sarcasm really came through. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you gave your opinion at the end. It was sarcastic and funny. I looked up a video of speed walking after reading this and it is ridiculous that that's a sport over wrestling.
ReplyDeleteI agree the wrestling is a sport and desserves to be in the Olympics. You did a good job explaining the facts. I didnt know some of the information so it was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteGreat job picking a topic that interests you and educating the rest of us. I hadn't heard about this until now. Your tone overall is one of remorse and then you show your personality by the last line--I love that. Are you advocating a save wrestling campaign? It would be interesting to hear more about your opinion.
ReplyDelete