USA Wrestling announced late Tuesday night that they would not be attending the 2020 Senior World Championships scheduled for mid-December in Belgrade, Serbia. The decision came after several days of internal discussions, athlete feedback, and the influence of medical experts.
At the center of the decision to not attend was USA Wrestling's belief that the risk of taking athletes and staff to Serbia (one of the only open-border nations left during the pandemic) far outweighed the gains. At the top of the list of concerns was that an athlete or staff member would get ill and have no way to receive proper medical attention and/or leave the country -- given their inability to board while positive with COVID. The concern that a number of individuals might be stuck in-country also weighed into their decision.
I don't (or maybe can't given my role with United World Wrestling) have a strong opinion on the decision of the United States. As I wrote about last week there are strong arguments against attending and some interesting counter points as to why they could attend. More interesting to me is not "why" they should attend, but that there was an inherent hypocrisy perceived in that the USA, which has one of the worst COVID outbreaks in the world, is hosting national tournaments sans testing, but won't attend one where there is testing.
That's not really a position that anyone can directly defend. It's true. The only logic is that the medical attention inside the country is better, as is the guarantee that athletes could return home rather than remain in some type of quarantine. Also, without testing at the USA Wrestling events there can't be a large number of cases attached to them running it.
Still, USA Wrestling does send out questionnaires about symptoms and anyone who may have tested positive, which is a step in the right direction.
The wrestlers directly affected by the decision seem to be supportive overall. Some outside of the top three are disappointed that they can't challenge for these spots, and some national team members would like to attend, but taken together the athletes seem relieved to not have to worry about the risks.
These are crazy times. American leadership has failed and left citizens and organizations to fend for themselves, which is creating alternate realities, conspiracies, and ill-informed grievances. USA Wrestling had to make the best decision they could and they feel confident that it was to miss out on this championships.
The one hyper-annoying counter argument being made online is that the wrestlers should have the opportunity to go by themselves to these events. First, that's not possible since there would still need to be a trials process and you can't have a trials process for a tournament you're not attending. Also, the act of asking to go anyway is petulant. USA Wrestling pays for training, travel, food, and financial incentives. Because they make a decision in the best interest of everyone some feel like they should have individual exclusions to allow them to solely attend because … personal responsibility? Give it a rest. You are welcome to be individually responsible with your own money and your own organization -- you can't force someone to support an ill-advised solo wrestling mission because you're willing to risk catching a disease that is causing the fourth largest mass death event in American history (1918 Flu, Civil War, WWII). The inanity of it all…
Things will get better. We will wrestle again. And if there is a world championships without the United States then so it goes. Americans are resilient and our wrestlers will find a way to train and prepare -- likely at a UWW event in 2021.
To your questions …
Q: Jordan Burroughs and David Taylor traded comments on Twitter and alluded to a potential meeting later this year. Thoughts on that potential matchup?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I could use the entertainment but have no interest in picking a winner until there are some contracts signed and the Twitter jousting begins in earnest. The first round of online combat went to Jordan by tech fall …
I made you disappear from 74kg. So who's really the magic man? https://t.co/78zxICz4dy
�" Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) October 5, 2020
Q: How do you see the Justin Gaethje vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight going Saturday?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I'm outrageously excited about this fight. At a 10/10. Here is me aggressively outsourcing the technical factors influencing this fight. Luke Thomas does an incredible job of assessing the fight from the perspective of what Gaethje might be able to do in order to win …
I'll take Khabib by decision.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Khabib and Abdulmanap
Oooh, lovely lovely.
TBT to Yoel and Adam Satiev
#TBT: Olympic Champ Saitiev Sneaks Past @YoelRomeroMMA in '02 World Finals
�" United World Wrestling (@wrestling) October 22, 2020
In a rematch of the '00 Olympic finals, Adam SAITIEV 🇷🇺 edged Yoel ROMERO 🇨🇺, 4-3, in the🥇match of the '02 84kg World C'ships. It was Saitiev's 2nd world title win and 1st since winning 76kg 🥇 in '99. pic.twitter.com/qyNjEoF3OT
Q: Any idea how much money the wrestlers are making at these pro events put on by Flo, NLWC and others?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Depends on the athlete but it ranges from a low-end average of $2,500 to a top price of $50,000 for top level talent (sometimes even more). As a safe bet, you can assume most are making just about $5,000 a bout, which is better than many UFC fighters receive on their initial contracts, which can be as low as $3K to show and $3K to win.
That size purse won't make anyone rich, but it's a solid return on the training hours and keeps the American wrestlers sharp for competition. There are a lot of Americans out of work so it's nice to see that these platforms, and the community at large, is able to support our top athletes who are here to pursue their dreams and give us some entertainment along the way.
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