|
|
To:
IOC (International
Olympic Committee)
Vice-President Ng Ser Miang
SNOC (Singapore
National Olympic Council)
President Teo Chee Hean
Vice-President Ng Ser Miang
Re: IOC Executive Committee’s Recommendation to
Remove Wrestling as a Core Sport in 2020 Olympics
Dear Sirs,
On the 12th of February 2013, the world’s wrestling
community was shocked and stunned by IOC’s decision to recommend for Olympic
Wrestling removal from the 2020 list of core sports. The long heritage and rich pedigree of
Olympic Wrestling exists from its inception in the Ancient Olympic Games in 708
B.C. to its current esteemed status in the Modern Olympic Games. Olympic Wrestling has been a fundamental
pillar of the Olympic Games since its founding.
Understandably, we now observe the wave of global responses and
reverberating support for the sport to remain the Olympics – support that has
always spanned national interests, cultural differences, and geopolitical lines,
and which has stood the test of time.
As the NSA (National Sports Association) for Olympic Wrestling in
Singapore, the Wrestling Federation of Singapore (WFS) support and stand in
solidarity with the entire Olympic Wrestling community in our stance to appeal
IOC’s decision, and to reinstate Olympic Wrestling to its rightful place.
WFS is comparatively young relative to peer Wrestling national
bodies around the world. Wrestling is
popular in our eastern hemisphere countries including Mongolia, Iran, India,
Japan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia. Since our founding in 2008,
WFS has been fervent and committed to introducing wrestling as an effective
character-building sport to our public, schools, and commercial gyms
locally. We too have lofty ambitions to
one day see a future Singaporean Olympian, and work to build a wrestling
tradition and legacy in Singapore. We
now have young local athletes who eat, live and breathe wrestling, totally
committed to winning medals for Singapore in upcoming regional and
international competitions. It is not
only hard work for the athletes, but for those involved in building out the
ecosystem (coaches, athletes, volunteer board, NSA personnel). But these are the same attributes commonly
ascribed to the sport (such as character-building, hard work and perseverance,
discipline, mental toughness, drive, self-control, & humility) – values
that transcends into real life and modern life relevance. To quote Marcus Aurelius, “The art of living
is more like wrestling than dancing, in so far as it stands ready against the
accidental and the unforeseen, and is not apt to fall”.
It is no wonder how wrestlers have become successful off the mat and
leaders in real life. To name a few,
George Washington (1st US President), Abraham Lincoln (US
President), Teddy Roosevelt (US President), Donald Rumsfeld (former Secretary
of Defense), Robin Williams (Actor/Comedian), Mike Novagratz (Fortress
Investment), Henry Kravis (KKR), and some of WFS local founding fathers
including Michael Denoma (former CEO Global Consumer Bank, Standard Chartered)
and Bill Amelio (Former CEO of Lenovo).
Our WFS community look up to these aspirations and ambitions, and are
inspired to create our own success stories.
WFS
requests for you to hear our position, and represent and reflect Wrestling and
Singapore’s interest and stance in the global arena. We humbly ask you, Mr Ng and Mr Teo, to push
for the repeal of the exclusion recommendation, and to keep Olympic Wrestling
in the Games. We are encouraged by your
past record as an illustrious sportsman and as a pillar
of strength to sports in Singapore. We
trust that you would be able to lend your clout and expertise to set this
right.
Sincerely Yours,
Bernard Chin Jimmy
Taenaka
Wrestling Federation of Singapore Wrestling
Federation of Singapore
President Vice
President
21 February, 2013
Get involved in wrestling today at these great prices now!
Click here to find out how to get to our location.
|