Vinesh Phogat to appeal in Court of Arbitration for Sport against Olympics' decision to disqualify her, asks for silver
Paris/IBNS: Vinesh Phogat, who was earlier disqualified from the women's 50kg wrestling final at the Paris Olympics 2024 for being 100 grams overweight than the permissible limit in a Gold Medal match, has decided to file an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the decision.
She has asked for the Olympic silver to be given to her.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration.
Vinesh was scheduled to take on United States's Sarah Ann Hildebrandt in the Gold Medal match.
A statement issued by the Indian Olympic contingent said that Phogat had tipped the scales above the 50 kg mark and was disqualified.
The contingent's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala for the event, shared details of the entire weight controversy.
"We have tried all possible drastic measures throughout the night, including cutting off her hair, and shortening her clothes. And despite all of this, we could not make that 50 kg weight category following disqualification," the doctor said.
Dr Pardiwala explained that Vinesh's weight gain was higher than expected after she finished her three bouts on Tuesday. He also said that despite several stringent efforts, which usually worked for her, it couldn't be brought down in time.
"We found that her post-participation weight was increased more than normal and the coach initiated the normal process of weight cut that he has always employed with Vinesh," he said.
"This is something that's worked with her for a long period of time. He felt confident that this would be achieved and over the night we went ahead with the weight cut procedure," he went on to explain.
"However, in the morning we found that despite all of our efforts, her weight was 100 grams over her 50 kilogram weight category and hence she was disqualified," he added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too personally spoke with IOA President PT Usha, seeking firsthand information on the matter and potential avenues for redressal.
He instructed PT Usha to exhaust all options to support Phogat's case, including filing a strong protest against the disqualification if necessary.
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