 "Vinesh Phogat, Vinesh, PT Usha")
Paris: IOA President PT Usha meets wrestler Vinesh Phogat after the latter was hospitalised following her disqualification from the Paris Olympics as she was found overweight ahead of her women’s 50kg final match, France, Aug. 7, 2024. (Photo: PTI)
The 29-year-old Vinesh was left heartbroken after she was disqualified ahead of her gold-medal bout in freestyle 50kg for being 100gm overweight in the morning weigh-in, crushing her Olympic dreams and prompting her to announce her retirement.
The incident started a blame game, also leading to an uproar in the Parliament, with some sections attacking Dr Pardiwala and his team for negligence with former IOA chief Narendra Batra indicating that Vinesh’s diet might have had something to do with her disqualification.
“…the responsibility of weight management of athletes in sport like wrestling, weightlifting, boxing and judo is that of each athlete and his or her coach and NOT that of the IOA-appointed Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala and his team,” Usha said in a statement.
She hoped that those rushing to judge the IOA medical team “would consider all facts before arriving at any conclusions”.
Vinesh had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in her category on Tuesday night. But her post-participation weight was found to have increased and despite all measures, which included cutting off Vinesh’s hair, she was found to be 100gm extra during the morning weigh-in.
“Each Indian athlete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in such sport had his or her own support team. These support teams have been working with the athletes over so many years,” Usha said.
Vinesh has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), demanding that she be awarded a joint silver medal with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who had lost to the Indian but was later promoted to the final following the Haryana wrestler’s disqualification.
American Sarah Hildebrandt won the gold after defeating Lopez in the title clash.
The decision on Vinesh’s appeal is expected to come on August 13.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Aug 12 2024 | 10:28 AM IST
