Newswise — Matt Carotenuto, associate professor of African history at St. Lawrence University, explores the grassroots potential of wrestling on the African continent, as the International Olympic Committee prepares to vote on whether to include wrestling in the 2020 Olympic Games.
Through a small but vibrant wrestling program in Kenya, efforts are underway to connect Olympic Freestyle and Greco to Africa’s sporting traditions of the distant past. From inside the walls of a Nairobi prison to a highland soccer pitch in the Great Rift Valley, Kenyan athletes and coaches are working to revive traditional forms of the sport lost during the region’s colonial past. Kenya’s wrestling enthusiasts are calling for a historic resurgence of wrestling across the country with the hope their efforts will yield medals in future Olympic Games from not just the track, but also the mat.
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