MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Olympic Committee says it plans to appeal to the IOC to restore wrestling to the games.

The International Olympic Committee voted Tuesday to drop wrestling from the Olympics from 2020.

Wrestling has been one of Russia's strongest sports: Soviet and Russian wrestlers have won 77 gold medals.

Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov says "we will use all of our strength to persuade the IOC not to exclude wrestling from the Olympic program."