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On Sept. 8 in Buenos Aires, the International Olympic Committee voted to decide which of wrestling, squash or baseball/softball would be included in the 2020 Games. Wrestling won with 49 votes, while baseball/softball received 24 and squash 22. Before the vote, host Justin Judkins interviewed USA Softball president E.T. Colvin, Olympic gold medalist (wrestling) Mark Schultz, and Bill Zadick, the national freestyle development coach at USA Wrestling. Episode 293 was webcast on Sept. 6, 2013.
2:20 E.T. Colvin explained why baseball and softball were not Olympic sports in 2012 and 2016 and described how the decision has affected the sport worldwide and especially in the U.S. He explained how USA Softball has campaigned to get back into the Olympics and gave his opinion on what factors will influence the IOC decision. He considered what it would mean to USA Softball if the sport lost the vote.
13:58 Justin played a recording of actor and radio host Jay Mohr as he explained why wrestling should not be dropped from the Olympics.
18:27 Mark Schultz won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling in 1984. He didn’t mince words as he described the corruption in the former administration of FILA, the international governing body. He explained why the IOC decided to lay down the law and force FILA to make changes or lose a spot in the Olympics.
25:38 Bill Zadick won an NCAA national championship at the University of Iowa and then went on to become a world champion in 2006. He’s currently the national freestyle development coach at the Olympic Training Center. He talked about the changes that FILA and USA Wrestling have made to the sport in order to win over the IOC, as well as why the sport was taken out of the Olympics in the first place. He described what USA Wrestling will do should they win the decision, and he talked about how the vote has united the wrestling community around the world.
