(REOPENS DEL71)

The IOC Board acted after reviewing the 26 sports on the current Olympic program. Dropping one sport allows the IOC to include a new sport to its program later this year. Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single spot in 2020. The IOC executive board will meet in May in Russia to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC general assembly in September in Argentina. The wrestling arena has been a happy hunting ground for India at the Olympics as the country boast of four medals from the quadrennial event. Apart from Sushil and Yogeshwar, legendary K D Jadhav won a bronze in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Sushil said there was a marked change in the mindset of the Indian grapplers who are preparing for the Rio and 2020 Olympics as gone are the days when the Indians made up the numbers and were content with making a trip to the Olympics. "The Indians no more want to just add to the numbers but look to win medals at the Olympics. Wrestling has given three medals in the last two Olympics and the event has become our main priority. The IOC should revisit their decision," he said. Yogeshwar said the Government of India should urge the IOC to reconsider their decision. Chief National coach, Vinod Kumar said that the news has come as a big shock to him. "I just saw it on news channels and my first reaction was 'IOC must be joking, they can't do it'. It's shocking and disappointing. One must understand that it's a famous sport not only in India but world over. It will effect India's medal chances at the Olympics," he said. MORE