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March 3 2013
Wrestling Hunger Strike: Why Is Olympic Champion Armen Nazaryan Going
On Hunger Strike?
By Melissa Siegel
Former Olympic champion wrestler Armen Nazaryan is going on a hunger strike.
According to Reuters, the Armenian native is starving himself to
protest the International Olympic Committee's decision to drop
wrestling from the 2020 Games. Nazaryan won a gold medal for his
country in Greco-Roman wrestling during the 1996 Olympics and earned
another for Bulgaria four years later.
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"I'm protesting against the recommendation to drop wrestling from the
Olympics," Nazaryan said on the Russian Wrestling Federation website.
"Wrestling has always been part of the Olympic program and it's not
right to exclude it from the Games. I'm starting my hunger strike, and
from now on I will drink only syrup."
Indeed, according to the Associated Press, wrestling was featured in
the first modern Olympics in 1896. However, the IOC chose to eliminate
the sport based on a variety of factors including ticket sales and
global popularity.
Some, including David Steele of AOL Sporting News, also feel that IOC
board member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. had a lot to do with the
decision. Samaranch Jr. is a member of the governing body for the
modern pentathlon, which many felt was going to be eliminated instead
of wrestling. His father was also the president of the IOC for two
decades, so he likely held a great deal of influence over the
committee.
But whatever the reason for the IOC's decision, the choice to
eliminate wrestling has been criticized throughout the sport's
community. This hunger strike is just the latest protest since the
move was announced.
In fact, as the AP noted, the choice to drop wrestling from the games
has even brought together two international enemies: America and Iran.
The two nations are working together in trying to convince the IOC to
change its mind.
Two former champions of the sport have taken their protestations a step further.
According to Inside The Games, Valentine Yordanov, the president of
the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation, recently returned the gold medal
he won in the sport during the 1996 Games.
"As a sign of protest I am returning my gold medal, won at the Olympic
Games in Atlanta in 1996, to the headquarters of the International
Olympic Committee in Lausanne," Yordanov wrote in a letter to IOC
President Jacques Rogge. "With this act I express my solidarity with
the millions of athletes and fans of our sport who are condemning the
recommendation of the IOC. Our sport is an integral part of the
Olympic Movement and one of the foundations of both the Ancient and
Modern Olympics."
Per UPI, fellow wrestler Sagid Murtazaliev followed suit a week later.
The Russian won his gold in the heavyweight freestyle event during the
2000 Olympics in Sydney.
"The decision to return my Olympic medal was not easy for me,"
Murtazaliev said in a letter to Rogge. "But after much thinking, I
decided anyway to follow the example of the great Bulgarian wrestler
Valentin Yordanov."
It's unclear whether Nazaryan's hunger strike and these other protests
will have any impact on the IOC's decision. As ESPN noted, wrestling
and seven other sports can apply for inclusion in the 2020 Games
during the committee's meeting in May. However, it seems unlikely that
the sport will be voted back in just months after it was cut.
http://www.isportstimes.com/articles/6123/20130302/wrestling-hunger-strike-armen-nazaryan-olympics-ioc.htm
March 3 2013
Wrestling Hunger Strike: Why Is Olympic Champion Armen Nazaryan Going
On Hunger Strike?
By Melissa Siegel
Former Olympic champion wrestler Armen Nazaryan is going on a hunger strike.
According to Reuters, the Armenian native is starving himself to
protest the International Olympic Committee's decision to drop
wrestling from the 2020 Games. Nazaryan won a gold medal for his
country in Greco-Roman wrestling during the 1996 Olympics and earned
another for Bulgaria four years later.
Follow Us :
"I'm protesting against the recommendation to drop wrestling from the
Olympics," Nazaryan said on the Russian Wrestling Federation website.
"Wrestling has always been part of the Olympic program and it's not
right to exclude it from the Games. I'm starting my hunger strike, and
from now on I will drink only syrup."
Indeed, according to the Associated Press, wrestling was featured in
the first modern Olympics in 1896. However, the IOC chose to eliminate
the sport based on a variety of factors including ticket sales and
global popularity.
Some, including David Steele of AOL Sporting News, also feel that IOC
board member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. had a lot to do with the
decision. Samaranch Jr. is a member of the governing body for the
modern pentathlon, which many felt was going to be eliminated instead
of wrestling. His father was also the president of the IOC for two
decades, so he likely held a great deal of influence over the
committee.
But whatever the reason for the IOC's decision, the choice to
eliminate wrestling has been criticized throughout the sport's
community. This hunger strike is just the latest protest since the
move was announced.
In fact, as the AP noted, the choice to drop wrestling from the games
has even brought together two international enemies: America and Iran.
The two nations are working together in trying to convince the IOC to
change its mind.
Two former champions of the sport have taken their protestations a step further.
According to Inside The Games, Valentine Yordanov, the president of
the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation, recently returned the gold medal
he won in the sport during the 1996 Games.
"As a sign of protest I am returning my gold medal, won at the Olympic
Games in Atlanta in 1996, to the headquarters of the International
Olympic Committee in Lausanne," Yordanov wrote in a letter to IOC
President Jacques Rogge. "With this act I express my solidarity with
the millions of athletes and fans of our sport who are condemning the
recommendation of the IOC. Our sport is an integral part of the
Olympic Movement and one of the foundations of both the Ancient and
Modern Olympics."
Per UPI, fellow wrestler Sagid Murtazaliev followed suit a week later.
The Russian won his gold in the heavyweight freestyle event during the
2000 Olympics in Sydney.
"The decision to return my Olympic medal was not easy for me,"
Murtazaliev said in a letter to Rogge. "But after much thinking, I
decided anyway to follow the example of the great Bulgarian wrestler
Valentin Yordanov."
It's unclear whether Nazaryan's hunger strike and these other protests
will have any impact on the IOC's decision. As ESPN noted, wrestling
and seven other sports can apply for inclusion in the 2020 Games
during the committee's meeting in May. However, it seems unlikely that
the sport will be voted back in just months after it was cut.
http://www.isportstimes.com/articles/6123/20130302/wrestling-hunger-strike-armen-nazaryan-olympics-ioc.htm