Larry Slater Photo

In honor of wrestling being reinstated as an Olympic sport for the 2020 and 2024 Olympic games USA Wrestling will be counting down the top 10 moments in wrestling’s Olympic fight. 

The selection for No. 7 on the Olympic fight Top 10 Countdown goes to the IOC decision to expand to six women’s freestyle weight classes in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
 
Since women’s wrestling was added to the Olympics in 2004 women have only had the option to compete in four weight categories in the Olympics as opposed to seven weight categories at the World Championships.
 
The International Olympic Committee places high value on gender equity within its sports on the Olympic programme. As part of its effort to retain Olympic status, FILA made a recommendation to the IOC that the number of women's weight classes be increased.
 
On August 9, just one month prior to the IOC General Assembly vote on wrestling, the IOC announced that women's freestyle would include six weight classes in the 2016 Olympics.  In order to achieve this, the men's disciplines of freestyle and Greco-Roman would be reduced by one weight class, from seven to six each. This announcement was well received by the IOC as well as the international media.
 
It is the goal of FILA to not only regain these dropped men’s weight classes in the near future, but also continue to expand the sport of wrestling with additional opportunity for both genders in future Olympic Games.

Olympic Fight Top 10 Countdown
10. Battle at the Falls
9. United 4 Wrestling
8. Social Media Charge
7. Six Women’s Weights for 2016 Olympics
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