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What: A USA Wrestling Teleconference to update media on what the sport is doing to keep its spot on the Olympic Games program.
Who: 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist Coleman Scott, who recently returned from the Freestyle World Cup in Iran, featuring the 10 top wrestling countries in the world, and saw first-hand the passion and excellence of the sport in the first international competition after the bad news earlier in the month from the IOC.
Rich Bender, Executive Director of USA Wrestling, who spent the week in Tehran, helping build a coalition of countries to challenge this IOC recommendation.
Jim Scherr, former CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee and newly- appointed FILA Bureau member, who will help spearhead the International wrestling federation’s efforts to keep wrestling in the Olympics. He has just returned from Lausanne, Switzerland, headquarters of FILA. He’s currently the commissioner of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
Background: The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee recommended at its meeting Feb. 12, 2013, in Lausanne, Switzerland, to not include the sport of wrestling in the program for the 2020 Olympic Games and beyond. It is a recommendation only at this time.
· Two dates are vitally important to reverse this recommendation. Between May 24-27 in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Executive Board will hear presentations from the following sports: baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, squash, sport climbing, wakeboard, wrestling and wushu. Up to three of those sports will move forward for final consideration at the General Session of the IOC in September.
· In its meeting Sept. 4-7 in Buenos, Aires, Argentina, the 114-member IOC General Session will have two votes. The first is to accept or reject the Executive Board’s recommendation to drop wrestling from the Games. If that’s upheld, the IOC members will then vote to select one of the three sports forwarded by the Executive Board for inclusion on the Olympic Program in 2020.
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