Why we'll miss Olympic wrestling, and why we'll hate modern pentathlon even more Wrestling will almost certainly be cut from the 2020 Olympic Games onwards, while Modern Pentathlon and Taekwondo will survive. Wrestling will be absent from the Olympics in 2020 after the IOC voted to axe it. THE axing of wrestling from the 2020 Olympic program is a decent punch in the teeth for traditionalists, let alone the sport itself. And that's before you factor in the sports that are seeking to replace it and, more controversially, the ones that were allowed to keep their spot on the Olympic roster. The ancient Olympics (which would have kicked arse, by the way. Chariot racing? Yes please) featured only seven events. Until today, only four of those sports remained, and now athletics, equestrian and boxing are the only links to the Games' roots. The water around the decision muddied when the IOC admitted that the decision on which sport to kill off was influenced by "political, emotional and sentimental factors." So 120-odd years of history, and wrestling's purity as a sporting spectacle, are cast aside at the emotional whim of a 15-member panel? It's two blokes going at each other in a glorious combination of strength and technical skills, or as funnymen Roy and H.G. told us during the Sydney Games, "you wanna whack someone on his back and grab his toolbag." It doesn't get much more Olympic than that. What is patently clear is that those IOC members couldn't possibly be sports fans, when you look at the events that have retained their place for 2020 and likely beyond. Tennis? The only person who had even the tiniest sliver of interest in seeing Andy Murray win Olympic gold just days after he bombed in the Wimbledon final was that Jurassic-looking maternal creature in his player's box. Dressage? I'm sorry, but it's horse dancing. Badminton? When the players couldn't care less about each result, why should we? I actually loved BMX. It was easily top three for most watchable at the last two Games. But a sport that was born outside local milk bars doesn't really hold a candle to two sweaty dudes grappling the stuffing out of each other. Synchronised swimming? Don't even get me started. But seeing you have - watching a troupe of women smiling as they plunge themselves in and out of a pool to music? It's enough to make you want to jump in next to them and never come up. Hands up if you look ridiculous. Picture: PA Source: AP And lastly, modern pentathlon, which reportedly had its head on the chopping block alongside wrestling. Pentathlon features fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting - five events, coincidentally the same number of people who watch them every four years. The IOC could never be accused of anything below board *cough*, but if you heard that former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch's son was the vice-president of modern pentathlon's governing body, would you smell a rat? The sports being considered for inclusion in wrestling's place need little explanation. Squash, roller sports, softball/baseball, karate, martial arts discipline wushu, wakeboarding and sport climbing. The ancient Greeks will be rolling in their tombs. Twitter: @AJBallantyne