AP REPORT: Women's Wrestling to Add Two Olympic Weight Classes

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(The Associated Press)
08/09/2013


IOC President Jacques Rogge speaks during a press conference with IAAF President Lamine Diack on the day before the World Athletics championships in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013. IVAN SEKRETAREV / AP PHOTO

MOSCOW -- Women's wrestling will have two extra medal classes at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, while two men's events from the London Olympics have been dropped.

The International Olympic Committee says one weight category in both men's freestyle and Greco-Roman will be transferred to women's freestyle. The switch creates six weight classes in all three disciplines at Rio.

Wrestling's governing body proposed the changes to create more equality as it tries to remain in the Olympics for the 2020 Summer Games.

The IOC says its board also approved two changes in sailing: mixed multihull will replace men's keelboat in Rio and women's skiff replaces women's match racing.

The IOC allowed the changes because they won't increase the number of athletes. Rio organizers have a quota of about 10,800 athletes.

Associated Press Story in Miami Herald