WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the 126th Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the First Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the members of the United States Congress as follows:

WHEREAS,  the International Olympic Committee Executive Board stunned the wrestling world, which sees wrestling as a sport popular in many countries and steeped in history as old as the Olympics themselves, by planning to drop wrestling as a sport in the Olympic Games; and

WHEREAS,  while wrestling will be included at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it was cut from the Olympic Games in 2020, which have yet to be awarded to a host city; and

WHEREAS,  wrestling is a sport that dates to ancient times, and, in ancient Greece, wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature and served as the focal sport of the ancient Olympic Games; and

WHEREAS,  wrestling represents one of the oldest forms of combat; the historical record of wrestling goes back 15,000 years, including cave drawings in France and ancient Babylonian and Egyptian art forms showing wrestlers using most of the holds known in the present-day sport; and

WHEREAS,  wrestling remained popular during the Middle Ages, and early European settlers in America brought a strong wrestling tradition with them, and the settlers also found wrestling to be popular among Native Americans; and

WHEREAS,  amateur wrestling flourished throughout the early years of the North American colonies and was a popular activity at country fairs, holiday celebrations and in military exercises, which continues to the modern day, when it is still a popular sport worldwide; and

WHEREAS,  the first wrestling competition in the modern Olympic Games occurred in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and the sport of wrestling has been in the Olympic Games since the modern Olympic Games began; and

WHEREAS,  the International Olympic Committee Executive Board’s decision to drop this ancient and time-honored sport from the modern Olympic Games is contrary to the ideals of the Olympic Games because it stems from a popularity contest in that such criteria as television ratings and ticket sales were major factors in the board’s decision; and

WHEREAS,  the International Olympic Committee Executive Board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games. The final vote will be made at the International Olympic Committee session, or general assembly, in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina; now, therefore, be it