 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Vinesh Phogat appealed against her disqualification from the 50kg women's wrestling final at the Paris Olympics with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on Wednesday, saying that she should be awarded the silver medal.
The Indian wrestler was disqualified after being found overweight ahead of the 50kg final.
As per reports, she has pleaded that she be awarded the silver medal.
The court asked Vinesh to wait till Thursday morning for the final verdict.
Should CAS rule in Phogat's favour, she will be awarded a joint-silver medal.
Vinesh scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in the event on Tuesday night.
She was scheduled to face Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States in the Wednesday’s final but will now return home without a medal if the CAS doesn't rule in her favour.
The Court of Arbitration for Sports is an international body, established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration and is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"She was found overweight by 100gm this morning. The rules do not allow this and she has been disqualified," said an Indian coach.,/p>
"I met Vinesh at the Olympic Village Polyclinic a short while ago and assured her of complete support of the Indian Olympic Association, Government of India and the whole country. We are providing Vinesh all medical and emotional support," Indian Olympic Association President P T Usha said in a statement after the stunning turn of events.
"The Wrestling Federation of India has filed an appeal to UWW to reconsider the decision to disqualify Vinesh and IOA is following that up in the strongest possible manner," she added.
The protests and appeals can continue but the cold fact was that Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to Vinesh in the semi-finals, replaced her in the final.
The India contingent's Chief Medical Officer Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala explained the process of weight cut and said that every possible trick was used to ensure that Vinesh could be within the prescribed limit.
VIDEO: ANI
"The process of weight cut involves a calculated restriction of food and water along with sweating from exercises and sauna till the morning weigh-in. This weight cut causes weakness and energy depletion, which is counter-productive to participation," he said.
"...for energy restoration, limited water and high energy foods are given after weigh-in. Vinesh's nutritionist had calculated this to be 1.5 kg. There sometimes is also a rebound weight gain following competition," he added.
Pardiwala revealed that Vinesh had been merely given small amounts of water to prevent dehydration after three draining bouts on Tuesday.
"Her post participation weight was found to be increased. The coach initiated the normal process of weight cut that he has always employed with Vinesh and felt confident that it would be achieved.
"All possible drastic measures, including cutting off her hair, were used. However, she was not below her allowed weight of 50kg," he said.
International rules stipulate that any grappler found overweight at the time of weigh-in ends up at the bottom of the final standings.
Cuban wrestler Lopez, who lost to Vinesh in the semi-finals, replaced the disqualified Indian in the 50kg category final against USA's Sarah Ann Hildebrandt.
"Vinesh failed second day weigh-in. According to the article 11 of the International Wrestling Rules, Vinesh (IND) will be replaced by the wrestler who lost against her in the semi-final. Therefore Yusneylis Guzman Lopez (CUB) will compete in the Final," the Paris Games organising committee said in a statement.
"Repechage Yui Susaki (Japan) vs Oksana Livach (Ukraine) will become Bronze Medal Match," it added.
The Indian Olympic Association later confirmed the development and requested privacy for the wrestler, who was competing in her third Olympics.
"It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women's Wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning," the IOA stated.
"No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you to respect Vinesh's privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand," it added.
Vinesh was not the only weight-related disqualification in the 50kg category.
On Tuesday, Italy's Emanuela Liuzzi was also forced to forfeit her preliminary bout after being found overweight.
The Indian wrestler had pulled off the biggest upset of the Games by outwitting the hitherto invincible Yui Susaki of Japan with a perfectly planned strategy before edging past Ukraine's Oksana Livach to storm into the semis.
Phogat was the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final at the Olympic Games after a convincing 5-0 victory over Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semi-finals.
Vinesh was approximately 2 kilos overweight on Tuesday night.
"She didn’t sleep the whole night and did everything in her capacity to meet the criteria – from jogging to skipping and cycling," said a report in The Indian Express.
"However, it didn’t prove to be enough. Sources said the Indian delegation pleaded for some more time to give her a chance to shed the last 100 grams, but to no avail."
"This isn’t the first time Phogat has found it tough to make the weight in the 50 kg category, a lower one compared to the 53 kg where she usually competes. She faced a similar ordeal even during the Olympic qualifiers, where she narrowly made the cut," the report further added.
The Indian wrestling contingent was expectedly distraught. Vinesh had stated before the Games that it would be her final outing in the quadrennial showpiece and it remains to be seen if she would change her mind after this setback.
"Everyone here is feeling as if someone in the family has died. We don't know what has struck us. Everyone is shocked," India's national women's coach Virender Dahiya said.
Cutting weight is a painful process that wrestlers have to endure if their natural body weight is higher than the division in which they compete.
Vinesh's natural body weight is about 56-57kg and it takes massive effort for her to get down to 50kg.
While in invitational tournaments, UWW allows for a grace of upto 2kg, no such relaxation exists for showpieces like Olympics, the world championships and the Asian Championships.
Athletes competing in contact sports go without food and even water two days before the weigh-in.
Boxer Nikhat Zareen had said after her defeat in Paris that she did not take either food or water for two days to stay within the weight limit and lost strength as a result.