Taekwondo will remain an Olympic sport but wrestling is set to be axed from the 2020 Games in Rio de Janeiro onwards as the International Olympic Committee voted to drop the sport at its executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on Tuesday.

The governing body voted on 25 core sports that will remain on the Olympic roster from 2020, with wrestling the only omission from London 2012.

The final decision will be made at the IOC's general assembly in Buenos Aires in Argentina in September.

Taekwondo, which was considered most at risk, kept its place partly because of its increased global popularity. It produced gold medalists from no fewer than eight countries in London last summer.

Meanwhile, wrestling federations around the world have been thrown into shock by the news as this has served as one of the longest-standing Olympic sports since it took pride of place at the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.

Korea has amassed 11 gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze medals in wrestling at the Olympics since Yang Jung-mo grabbed the nation's first-ever Olympic gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Games.