Kurt Angle Once Again Comments On The Removal Of Wrestling From The Olympics

In an interview with Bang! Showbiz (via Contact Music), Kurt Angle once again commented on the decision by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to remove wrestling from the Olympics. Here are highlights:

On dropping wrestling: “They actually chose wrestling to drop over badminton, which completely blows my mind. The tradition and history of wrestling since the beginning of the Olympics, the competitiveness worldwide – you’re not going to get any more competitive than Olympic wrestling. There was no reason for this to happen.”

On when he won a gold medal: “‘That changed my whole life. I won the World Championships in 1995, and nobody heard about it. In amateur wrestling, that’s just as big as winning an Olympic gold medal. ‘It doesn’t mean nearly as much, because the Olympics is the pinnacle of sport. So, the value of Kurt Angle and my brand went up when I won the Olympics.”

On how it could hurt all of wrestling: ”Let’s say a WWE superstar like Jack Swagger – an All-American [wrestler] in college. They don’t really bring it up that much … There’s a big difference between being a wrestler in college and an Olympic gold medallist. The promotion is so much bigger – not only do they get more money, but the company obviously gets a lot more promotion out of it.”

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