Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio is touting bipartisan efforts to keep wrestling as an Olympic sport.
The Senate has passed a resolution that urges the International Olympic Committee to reverse its decision to eliminate the ancient sport from the Summer Games, starting in 2020, Mr. Brown, a Democrat, announced on Monday.
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“The call for wrestling to remain in the Olympics is growing increasingly louder. … The sport has meant so much to so many Ohioans — teaching discipline, strength, and a fierce competitiveness both in athletics and in life,” he said.
The IOC’s vote last month to phase out the sport is only preliminary, and a final decision will issued in September, Mr. Brown’s office said.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, Al Franken, Minnesota Democrat, Bob Casey Jr., Pennsylvania Democrat, Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat, James Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat, Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Republican, and Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, co-sponsored the resolution.
Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican and a champion wrestler in high school and college, has introduced a companion resolution in the House.
To lobby for their position, Mr. Brown last week joined former Olympians and athletes who are training at the Ohio Regional Training Center ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
