(L to R) Iran’s Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi, Jordan Ernest Burroughs of U.S., Uzbekistan’s Soslan Tigiev and Russia’s Denis Tsargush pose at the podium of the Men’s 74Kg Freestyle wrestling at the ExCel venue during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 10, 2012. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor (BRITAIN – Tags: OLYMPICS SPORT WRESTLING) – RTR36N25
As you can see from the picture above, Iran, the United States and Russia have a healthy rivalry when it comes to wrestling.
And that’s why wrestlers and coaches in all three countries are upset by the International Olympic Committee’s decision to possibly remove wrestling from the Olympic line-up starting in 2020.
Wednesday, in New York City – in the middle of Grand Central Station in fact – wrestlers from Iran, Russia and the US will compete in a series of exhibition matches designed to draw attention to the sport, and to try and save it from the IOC chopping block.