Wrestling Association of the Philippines (WAP) secretary general Karlo Sevilla yesterday hailed the move of the International Olympic Committee to reinstate wrestling in the Summer Games, calling the move a positive development for the country.
IOC members conducted a secret electronic ballot and voted for the reinstatement of wrestling as an Olympic sport during the just-concluded 125th IOC session held in Argentina.
Wrestling will now be played as a regular discipline in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Games.
“We believe we have a great shot at a medal, hopefully a gold, in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics,” said Sevilla.
“Definitely, the talents we’ll discover in the coming games of the Palarong Pambansa and the Batang Pinoy will enjoy sufficient time to mature as potential Olympic qualifiers and winners,” he added.
The combat sport that involves grappling techniques on a mat was supposed to be scrapped after Rio 2016 following the IOC’s performance assessment of all 26 sports in the London Games last year.