The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has urged six-time Olympian and Asian Games gold medallist, Randhir Singh, who is an IOC member, to take up the case of wrestling with the IOC Executive Board, so as to ensure its retention in the core group of sports for the Olympics in 2020.
In a letter to the IOC member, Secretary Sports, Pradeep Kumar Deb, emphasised the government’s belief that the exclusion of wrestling from 25 core sports needed to be reconsidered.
Highlighting the rich tradition of wrestling at the Games — it was part of the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, and was an integral part of the ancient Olympics in Greece — the sports ministry also mentioned the four medals won by Indian wrestlers in Olympics over the years.
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It also sought to capitalise on the popularity of wrestling in the US, Russia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Japan and China to galvanise support for the sport.