The sport of wrestling could be off the summer Olympic docket soon, and supporters of the sport are now scrambling to raise awareness and popularity so wrestling can keep its hold.
One way to make that happen is to hold a very public showcase involving the world's best wrestlers in Grand Central Station in New York City, one of the most famous train stations in the world. It will be live streamed on NBC Sports.
The showcase is called "Rumble on the Rails," and features top wrestlers from the United States, Russia and Iran. Three Olympic medalists, Jordan Burroughs of Slickerville, New Jersey, Coleman Scott of Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Kyle Dake of Ithaca, New York will be on hand to promote the sport.
Zeke Jones, the USA Wrestling National Freestyle coach said, "What we are going to witness is a tremendous competition. You will see more than that, of course. You will see world-class wrestling. You will also see how the sport of wrestling has evolved."
These competitions are being held two weeks in advance of a crucial point in the process of keeping the sport in the summer Olympics. Representatives from eight different sports will be converging on St. Petersburg, Russia to make their case for inclusion. These sports include baseball, softball, karate, roller sports, climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.
Mitch Hull, the national teams director of USA Wrestling is quoted as saying, "We'll be standing arm-in-arm with Iran, and we'll be standing with Russia as we will with lots of other countries. Those (countries) really do make a difference because politically we're not always on the same page, or politically with Russia, but in wrestling, there's no doubt that we are all together in this effort."
The International Olympic Committee's final decision on which sports make the cut will come in September.
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