ARE THE OLYMPICS NEXT??
Date Posted: 17 06 2008
Excerpt from the internet, Article and source below
The International Olympic Committee has made it known it seeks to modernize its sports to better attract young audiences. Consider the advent of BMX cycling in Beijing this summer, or snowboarding in the Winter Games.
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have exploded onto the sports scene recently, giving rise to the new wrestling style, Grappling, which was approved by FILA, the international wrestling federation, in 2006.
“It’s going back to the roots,” Townsend said. “Real combat. Once you submit somebody or you get submitted, there’s no question who is the better man. When you’re getting choked, you really know that guy had you in a situation where he could have either broken your arm or your leg or choked you unconscious. For me, that’s a much more rewarding experience than pinning somebody, which really fulfills no practical combat necessity.”
Once FILA endorsed Grappling, USA Wrestling responded.
“Whether or not it becomes an Olympic sport, I don’t know,” Bender said. “But if the international federation is going to host a world championships, then we not only want to participate, we want to win.”
Not surprisingly, the U.S. dominated the 2007 World Grappling Championships in Turkey.
What’s it look like? It’s all over YouTube. To the untrained eye, Grappling looks a bit like freestyle wrestling but with limited intervention from a referee. The idea is to get an opponent in a position in which he or she submits. There are throws. There is no punching or striking. Much of the action is with one grappler on his back and the other on top of him.
“It gives us an opportunity to touch an audience of young athletes that we aren’t currently touching,” Bender said. “And then, it can expose them to traditional wrestling, as well.”
USA Wrestling doesn’t have data on whether the rise of MMA and UFC is driving an increase of membership to wrestling clubs.
The International Olympic Committee has instituted a new Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14 to 18. It’s set to begin in 2010. And guess what’s on the initial program of those Youth Olympics? Beach wrestling.Still, whether Grappling or Beach will make it on to the Olympic wrestling program any time soon is anyone’s guess.
Townsend calls the beach style “a novelty.” Some Olympic-committed wrestlers headed to this weekend’s trials say the less technical Grappling form or the more punch-oriented MMA don’t require the skills freestyle and Greco do.
So, 21st-century wrestling stands—hunched, arms out—ready to take on a new challenge amid an ever-changing U.S. sports marketplace.
“If I’m going to sit here and play wizard for a day, there’s a high probability Grappling can be an Olympic sport,” Townsend said. “I don’t know how the wrestling landscape can change. Twenty years? I’d bet it could change pretty dramatically and sooner than you think.”
Full article
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/columns/story?id=3438005
From
http://espn.go.com/