Wrestling has been dropped from the Olympic Games from 2020 by the International Olympic Committee to make way for a new sport, BBC News reported. The IOC's program commission assessed each sport's performance at the London Games before making their decision.

But wrestling could enjoy a reprieve as it now joins seven sports hoping to be included in 2020.

A decision on which sport will be added in 2020 will be made when the IOC meet in Buenos Aires in September.

"The news from the IOC is extremely disappointing," said British Wrestling chief executive Colin Nicholson.

The sport, which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events, goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.

It has featured in every games apart from Paris 1900. At last year's London Olympics the sport featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events.