Adarios Jones, a wrestler at Moline High School had his route to the 2020 Olympic games mapped out.
“After high school, I wanted to go to Colorado Springs and then 4 years to college and then back to Colorado Springs to train for the Olympic trials,” Adarios tells us.
The Olympic training center is located in Colorado Springs. A city that Adarios had his eyes on but that dream he had so thoughtfully planned out crumbled today after the International Olympic Committee announced wrestling would be cut from the 2020 games.
The news stunned the wrestling community. Todd Rosenthal, Athletic Director at Moline High School says he is still trying to figure it all out.
“You are talking about the oldest sport in the world.”
The sport was part of the first modern Olympics in 1896. Wrestling enthusiasts have already started to fight back.
“I have already signed a petition so we got together that quick and I think the reaction is going to be a lot bigger than what they think,” Rosenthal says.
Rosenthal was an alternate for the 1984 U.S. Wrestling Team.
“That experience I would never give up for anything. It was a part of my life and probably has a lot to do with my success in the job field.”
It’s an experience he would love to see young wrestlers like Adarios have.
Troubled as a youth, Adarios credits the sport for turning his life around.
“It impacted me so much, taught me discipline. Adarios says, “It brought out more in me that anybody or anything ever had.
Whatever the committee's reason, for young men and women like Adarios, it’s the worst takedown they have ever experienced.
“Just that fact that I can’t win a gold anymore is a heart breaker.”
Click here to read the original story: http://wqad.com/2013/02/12/wrestling-cut-from-2020-olympic-games/