The NZOC is satisfied all major New Zealand Olympic sports have secured their spots on the core Games programme for 2020 as wrestling battles to maintain its status. Photo / AP
The New Zealand Olympic Committee is satisfied all major New Zealand Olympic sports have secured their spots on the core Games programme for 2020 as wrestling battles to maintain its status.
Wrestling will still feature at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro but faces being cut from the 2020
Games, which have yet to be awarded to a host city.
The sport will battle it out with seven other sports for one remaining spot on the 2020 Games programme. A decision on the final makeup of the 2020 Olympics will be made at an International Olympic Committee meeting in September.
The executive board of the IOC met overnight (NZT) to review the 26 sports contested at London in order to remove one of them so it could add one later this year. It had been expected modern pentathlon - a sport which combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting - was the most likely to be dropped.
The executive board reviewed 39 criteria, including TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity but with no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.
