Tweet
International News Network, Pakistan
March 4 2013
Hunger strike to protest wrestling's Olympic removal
Dated: 2013-03-05
SOFIA: Bulgarian wrestling coach and two-times Olympic champion Armen
Nazaryan has started a hunger strike to protest the sport being dumped
from the 2020 Olympics, the country's wrestling federation said
Sunday.
"The two times Olympic champion will not eat until the start of the
European Championship on March 22 in Tbilisi, Georgia ... and will
only take juices," a statement said.
"Wrestling has always been on the Olympics programme and it is not
right to take it out. I sincerely hope that my action will convince
the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to review its decision,"
Nazaryan said in the statement.
The IOC executive panel decided last month to exclude wrestling from
the 2020 Games programme, prompting protests from other figures in the
sport as well as creating an unlikely common cause for geopolitical
foes Iran and the United States.
Nazaryan, 38, was an Olympic champion for Armenia in the Greco-Roman
style at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and also won gold and bronze for
Bulgaria at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Athens Games.
He is currently chief coach of Bulgaria's Greco-Roman wrestling team.
Bulgaria's women wrestling coach, two times World and four times
European freestyle champion Serafim Barzakov, was also ready to go on
hunger strike to support Nazaryan, the federation added.
Wrestling has been Bulgaria's most successful Olympic sport with its
athletes winning a total of 16 titles.
The country's wrestling federation chief Valentin Yordanov has already
protested the IOC's decision to remove the ancient sport from the 2020
Olympic schedule by returning his 1996 Olympic gold medal to IOC's
headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?newsid=219035&catname=Sports
From: Baghdasarian
March 4 2013
Hunger strike to protest wrestling's Olympic removal
Dated: 2013-03-05
SOFIA: Bulgarian wrestling coach and two-times Olympic champion Armen
Nazaryan has started a hunger strike to protest the sport being dumped
from the 2020 Olympics, the country's wrestling federation said
Sunday.
"The two times Olympic champion will not eat until the start of the
European Championship on March 22 in Tbilisi, Georgia ... and will
only take juices," a statement said.
"Wrestling has always been on the Olympics programme and it is not
right to take it out. I sincerely hope that my action will convince
the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to review its decision,"
Nazaryan said in the statement.
The IOC executive panel decided last month to exclude wrestling from
the 2020 Games programme, prompting protests from other figures in the
sport as well as creating an unlikely common cause for geopolitical
foes Iran and the United States.
Nazaryan, 38, was an Olympic champion for Armenia in the Greco-Roman
style at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and also won gold and bronze for
Bulgaria at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Athens Games.
He is currently chief coach of Bulgaria's Greco-Roman wrestling team.
Bulgaria's women wrestling coach, two times World and four times
European freestyle champion Serafim Barzakov, was also ready to go on
hunger strike to support Nazaryan, the federation added.
Wrestling has been Bulgaria's most successful Olympic sport with its
athletes winning a total of 16 titles.
The country's wrestling federation chief Valentin Yordanov has already
protested the IOC's decision to remove the ancient sport from the 2020
Olympic schedule by returning his 1996 Olympic gold medal to IOC's
headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?newsid=219035&catname=Sports
From: Baghdasarian