Olympic dreams squashed

Bermuda won’t be able to send squash players to the Olympics any time soon.

The International Olympic Committee at the weekend reinstated wrestling to the Games, winning a vote over baseball/softball and squash.

Squash was widely tipped to finally be accepted as an Olympic event and the vote to bring back wrestling — and the margin of it — came as a shock to the sport.

Bermuda’s director of squash Patrick Foster was bitterly disappointed by the decision and because it robs young players like Bermuda’s Micah Franklin of the chance to compete in Tokyo in 2020.

He told the Sun: “Our travelling pro is Micah, who was sitting in a New York airport waiting for the decision before flying to Brazil to compete. For him, in 2020, it would have been the pinnacle of his career. It would have been perfect for him.

Big moment

“For players like that all over the world, to have that chance would have been the biggest thing ever. I feel for those guys.

“It was a big moment for them and now it’s probably not ever going to happen in their careers.”

He added: “I’ve nothing against wrestling but the whole process was about picking a new sport and we are the only new sport out of the three. It’s a real gutter and really confusing.”

Bermuda Olympic Association president Judy Simons said Bermuda did not get a vote in the matter nor over which city should host the 2020 Games, a vote which was won by Tokyo over Istanbul and Madrid.

Ms Simons told the Sun: “They look at the core sports and I’m not privy to any of the process by the International Olympic Committee.

“Obviously it would have been nice if squash had been chosen and therefore Bermuda might have had an opportunity to compete.”