By Vestnik Kavkaza
Yesterday in Budapest the World Wrestling Championships started. In February the International Olympic Committee recommended excluding wrestling from the program of the Olympic Games. Russia and other post-Soviet countries were indignant at the IOC’s decisions, as wrestling always brought medals to the states.
“Almost all the countries of the former Soviet Union, first of all Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, have traditions of wrestling," the president of the Wrestling Federation of Russia, Mikhail Mamiashvili, told Vestnik Kavkaza. “Ukraine has great traditions and famous champions; Belarus has the legendary Alexander Medved. There was a time when half of the national team of the Soviet Union consisted of Belarusians. It is a great heritage, pride; it should be developed.”
Responsibility made sporting officials fight for the IOC to change its decision. As a result, on September 8th the International Olympic Committee decided to retain wrestling in the Olympic Games of 2020 and 2024.
“I would like to express my gratitude to all our brother-wrestlers for their support. This very complicated and worrying event for wrestling gave us an opportunity to feel support for each other, and that is most important. We were consolidated by a very pure and light idea, despite our nationalities, territorial belongings, religions. We are able to be united. When we are together, we can win,” Mamiashvili said. According to him, there was serious work – President Putin ordered a working group to be founded, which was headed by Yuri Trutnev.
The Olympic champion Alexander Karelin called the union of interested countries which convinced the IOC “planetary coordination which Russia has taken”: “There has been no such an example in history when representatives of Iran, the U.S., and Russia joined the process of collecting the necessary documents. We have replaced the president of the Wrestling Federation, the Swiss Rafael Marinetti, for the Serb Nenad Lalovic, who worked in two directions. Firstly, communication with the IOC was restored. Secondly, we stopped thinking that arguments which are common and understandable for us are well-known in the world.”
“The impetus was given by Russia,” the first vice-president of the WFR, Georgy Bryusov, confirms. “All serious contacts at a very high level were used for gaining support. We managed to form a group during two weeks, which worked in six directions. Firstly, there was the changing of the structure and the charter of the WFR. Secondly, there was preparation of the congress, which gave us a mandate from all national federations. Thirdly, there was the media component, the explanation of our position. Then, there was changing the rules, establishing a new vision of wrestling.”
