Wrestling Back at Olympics? It's a Big Step Closer

Wrestling might be back at the Olympics after all. The sport will be one of three finalists—along with squash and a combined bid from baseball and softball—vying for the last open spot in the 2020 Games, reports USA Today. The International Olympic Committee, which outraged purists three months ago by declaring that the ancient sport was being ditched in 2020, will make the final decision in September. Today, it picked the three finalists after eliminating karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding, and the Chinese martial art known as wushu, reports AP.

"We had the opportunity to have a second chance to compete," says international wrestling federation chief Nenad Lalovic. "We won the first match, but there is another one to fight." The baseball-softball combo made the cut with help from a letter by Major League Baseball to the IOC. The details aren't being made public, but USA Today doesn't think it made any allowances to have major-league players compete in the Games. Scheduling makes it nearly impossible. (More wrestling stories.)