MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin's spokesman says Russia will do all it can to persuade the International Olympic Committee to keep wrestling in the Olympics.

According to Russian news reports, Dmitry Peskov says Russia will work with the IOC "at all possible levels" to argue against the move to drop wrestling.

The IOC's executive board voted to cut wrestling from the 2020 Olympics, angering Russia, whose wrestlers have won 77 gold medals since the Soviet times.

The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg to consider the issue. The final decision will be made at the IOC general assembly in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.