The IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon — the event considered most at risk — and remove wrestling instead from its list of 25 "core sports." The IOC board acted after reviewing the 26 sports on the current Olympic program. Eliminating one sport allows the International Olympic Committee to add a new sport to the program later this year. Wrestling, which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events, goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. The first recorded wrestling match at the Olympics occurred during the ancient Olympics in 708 BC. Wrestling had been contested at the Summer Olympic Games since the sport was introduced in the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC[1]. When the modern Olympic Games resumed in Athens in 1896, wrestling became a focus of the Games, with the exception of the 1900 Summer Olympics when wrestling did not appear on the program. Freestyle wrestling and weight classes both made their first appearance in 1904. The women's competition was introduced in 2004. In February of 2013 the IOC voted to remove the sport from the 2020 Summer Olympics onwards. Please support keeping the OLDEST sport in the Olympics Alive! This would truly be a shame to see this event be taken from the Olympics! Say No to dropping this sporting event! Please sign the petition in supporting the Worlds oldest Olympic sporting event.