Wrestling will become an Olympic sport in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, following an announcement at the 125th Session of the International Olympic Committee in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The full membership of the International Olympic Committee had to decide between wrestling, baseball/softball and squash.
Following the announcement, Nenad Lalovic, the President of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), expressed his gratitude for the support of wrestling fans:
“To the millions of wrestlers, supporters and fans around the world that came together to save Olympic wrestling; I offer a very big thank you.”
As part of the application for the inclusion of wrestling,FILA made efforts to increase the numbers of women competing in wrestling, put more athletes in decision making positions and altered the rules of wrestling to make the sport more exciting and easier to understand.
The present format of the Olympic Games has 25 core disciplines and a maximum of three additional sports. In 2007, golf and rugby sevens were added to the programme for the Rio 2016 and the Tokyo 2020 events.
