While the U.S. has been at political odds with a number of these countries, wrestling has brought together representatives from across the world for a common goal: reinstating the sport as an Olympic event for the 2020 Summer Games.Two-time Olympic gold medalist and current Oklahoma State University mat coach John Smith and four other members of the state’s wrestling royalty were recognized by the state House of Representatives May 8 for their work to promote the sport.
Joining Smith were his brother and National Wrestling Hall of Fame Executive Director Lee Roy Smith; 1956 Olympic silver medalist Danny Hodge; 1972 gold medalist Wayne Wells; and Chad Smith, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and a former championship college wrestler.
House members that day also approved a resolution opposing the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to eliminate the sport from the 2020 games.
Before the wrestling dignitaries left the House floor, state Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, asked the 86-year-old Hodge — once hailed as the strongest man in the world — to demonstrate a unique talent of his. Hodge obliged, using his bare hand to squeeze the juice from an apple, drawing a standing ovation from House members and visitors in the gallery.
The resolution’s author, Rep. Lee Denney, R-Cushing, said the measure is designed to show support for Olympic wrestling worldwide, and for Oklahoma’s grapplers in particular. House Concurrent Resolution 1013 passed unanimously.
The Smith brothers and their international wrestling colleagues will try to persuade the IOC executive board to include wrestling as a provisional sport for 2020. Unless that occurs, the sport will not be part of the Olympics until 2024 at the earliest.
“Hey,
Oklahoma wrestling is important, and we’ve had a lot of success,” John
Smith said. “They (IOC) have heard the wrestling world, and hopefully
we’ve given them every reason to put us back in. Oklahoma is a state
that has produced 65 Olympians and 21 medalists in wrestling, and for
that reason, people listen.”
With
177 countries that compete in Olympic wrestling, the international
backlash has been “amazing,” said Lee Roy Smith, a silver medalist at
the 1983 World Championships.
on the House floor.
Wrestling
had no representation at the IOC meeting in February, which prompted
high-profile wrestling figures such as the Smith brothers to question
the sport’s national and international leadership.
“I
think they began taking things for granted a bit,” John Smith said.
“They became complacent, assuming we were in good shape. Every sport has
to do their work to remain in the Olympics.”
Wrestling
will join seven other sports for a single opening in the 2020 games.
The others include a combined bid from softball and baseball, karate,
squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu, a martial
art.
Wrestling was
eliminated in favor of the modern pentathlon after an IOC commission
analyzed various criteria from the 2012 London games, including TV
ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy, global participation and
popularity.
This article appears in May 8-14, 2013.