Wrestling for Wrestling

It is highly unusual for Japan, the United States, Russia and Iran to make a coalition. The wrestling associations from those countries are working together to avoid deregistration of wrestling from the list of Olympic games. The success of the cooperation may cause Olympic games to regain the reputation of “festival of peace.”

The decision of the International Olympic Committee was reported with surprise and anger in these countries. The committee listed wrestling as a candidate to be dropped from Olympic games as of 2020. Wrestling was picked up from five choices; others were modern pentathlon, taekwondo, canoeing and ground hockey. The reason why wrestling was chosen is not clear. Many expected that the most likely candidate for the dropping was taekwondo, which is Korean traditional martial art. But it is reported that South Korea positively lobbied to the committee to make taekwondo survive.

As nations with great number of medalists, US expressed its disappointment on the decision. Emphasizing the significance of wrestling as traditional item of Olympic games in ancient Greece, Russia accused the president of the International Wrestling Federation of his weak lobbying. For Iranians, wrestling is closely connected with religion. According to a report of New York Times, “Legendary Persian kings would wrestle their opponents in epic battles. The first Shiite saint, Imam Ali, was said to be a wrestler.” Those three countries have good reason to cooperate with each other, while they are frequently oppose each other over nuclear development of Iran.

In Japan, the decision was reported with big headlines. Because the skills for wrestling are close to judo, Japan produced many medalists in Olympics. Wrestling has been one of the few items in which Japan can frequently get medals. The government of Japan awarded Saori Yoshida, who got three consecutive gold medals of 55kg class in last three Olympic games, to be the National Honor.

Tokyo is one of four candidates of 2020 Olympic games. There are a number of posters alongside of streets in the city, on which a picture of Yoshida delighted with her fists raised over her head at the moment of winning the final in London Olympic games last year. On the poster, there is a message that reads “This excitement again in Tokyo.” But if wrestling is dropped from 2020 Olympic games, the excitement will never be seen, making the poster message a bad joke.

It is the rare case that those four countries share the same one interest. So, it should be a deal for the president of the IOC, Jacque Rogge, to negotiate with those wrestling giants to make a breakthrough on Iranian nuclear dispute as the condition of wrestling’s survival.