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Bulgaria's wrestler Stanka Zlateva is pictured here during the Olympic Games in London last year after she failed to redeem herself for the disappointment she suffered in Beijing and settled for silver again, this time in London. Photo by EPA
Ordinary people and sports officials in Bulgaria have been stunned and shocked by the news that wrestling – one of the few traditional and medal-winning sports in the country - is set to be dropped from the 2020 Olympic Games.
"I was totally shocked when I heard the news," Stefka Kostadinova, President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, BOC, commented.
"Bulgaria has been dealt a blow, but Russia and the United States are also countries where wrestling is a leading sport. The problem is that these countries have no representatives in the executive council of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," she added.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended its dismissal after assessing the performance of all 26 sports at the London Games.
"The news from the IOC is extremely disappointing," said British Wrestling chief executive Colin Nicholson.
There is a slim chance wrestling may win a reprieve when the IOC meets in September to ratify its choice.
It will now compete with with seven other sports - baseball/softball, squash, karate, sport climbing, wakeboarding, wushu and roller sports - for a place in the 2020 Games.
"This is not the end of the process, this is purely a recommendation," said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. "This is not about what's wrong with wrestling but what is good for the Games."
It is unlikely wrestling will be voted back in so soon after being removed by the executive board, but Adams stressed: "Today's decision is not final."
Amateur wrestling's world governing body, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), said it was "greatly astonished" by the decision.
A Fila statement said: "FILA will take all necessary steps to convince the executive committee and members of the IOC of this aberration of a decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games."
Wrestling, which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events, was included in the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.
It has been in every Games since, apart from Paris in 1900. At last year's Olympics, it featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events.
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