Wrestling out, Modern Pentathlon still in?

Major news today in Summer Olympic sport - wrestling has been pushed out of the 2020 Olympic Games.

The reaction to this decision, made by the IOC in Lausanne earlier today, has been of widespread shock. Most expected either modern pentathlon or taekwondo to get the chop, and amateur wrestling's world governing body described the decision as "an aberration". So why is everyone so surprised?

Wrestling can be a spectacular sport

Well, wrestling is one of the few remaining (until today) sports that was contested in the ancient Olympic Games held in Greece from 776 BC to about 394 AD. In this respect wrestling, along with events like running, boxing and equestrian, is a truly traditional Olympic sport. It was present at the inaugural modern Olympics in 1896 and since then has been an event at every Olympic meeting except Paris in 1900.

Easy to see why there has been such uproar, then, when we consider that among the sports hoping to fill the gap left by wrestling are 'roller sports' and 'sport climbing', both of which will be completely unfamiliar even to moderately avid sports fans.

But some would say that every sport deserves a chance at the Olympics to show the world what it's about and what makes it great. I agree with this - badminton is my favourite sport to play, and the number of people who think of it as a casual game played on a grass lawn in the back garden on a summer's day irritates me. The Olympics offers sports a brief opportunity to show how their game can be played at the highest level - incidentally something that badminton drastically failed to do in London 2012.

So I would welcome any new sport to the Olympics with open arms. It is some of the events which have been in the programme and remain there which bother me. Take the modern pentathlon, which comprises of shooting, fencing, swimming, show-jumping and cross country running. The idea behind this event is that it showcases all the skills and attributes required for a 19th century cavalry soldier to prosper behind enemy lines. The problem is that all of the events within the sport are also currently present in another Olympic sport (although not specifically pistol shooting). Whilst this is also the case for the events of the heptathlon or the decathlon, both these events occur within the sport of Athletics. So the modern pentathlon, as far as I can see, is 'taking up' a space which has already been filled.

Give every sport a go, let's see if there are some hidden gems out there that deserve to be Olympic events. But if they don't, move them aside to make room for something else.