One of Vinesh Phogat’s four lawyers, Vidushpat Singhania, sounded confident of a favourable verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on Tuesday (August 13). Vinesh Phogat appealed to the CAS after being disqualified from the Paris Olympics 2024 hours before her gold-medal bout against Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the USA for being 100gm overweight from the permissible weight limit. Vinesh wanted to be eligible for the gold-medal bout but that was rejected by the CAS. They, however, accepted the Indian wrestler’s plea for a joint silver medal, which she had ensured by winning three consecutive bouts on the first day of the competition after passing the weigh-in.
“The hearing took place on August 9 and the verdict is expected by 9.30 pm tonight. Vinesh was represented by four lawyers. She is the applicant and United World Wrestling (UWW) and International Olympic Committee are the respondents and Indian Olympic Association is an interested party,” Vidushpat told ANI.
The senior counsellor said Vinesh should be treated as a champion irrespective of the CAS verdict. “We hope the decision will come in Vinesh’s favour. She is a champion no matter what CAS’s verdict is and should be respected like one.”
CAS has established an ad hoc division in Paris, led by president Michael Lenard from the US, to handle Olympic cases. This division operates within the Paris judicial court in the 17th arrondissement.
Vinesh became the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for the Olympic finals. However, tragedy struck when the Indian wrestler could not reduce the excess weight gained during her three bouts on the first day of her event. Even drastic measures like cutting her hair did not prove to be enough.
A devastated Vinesh announced her wrestling retirement a day after being disqualified from the Games. “Maa kushti (wrestling) won against me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream and my courage have been broken. I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to you all for forgiveness,” she wrote on X.
In her distinguished career, Vinesh secured two World Championships bronze medals (2019 and 2022), an Asian Games gold (2018) and bronze (2014), and three Commonwealth Games gold medals (2014, 2018, 2022). She also won gold in the Asian Championships (2021) and has earned silver and bronze at the continental level.
IOA president PT Usha on Sunday clarified that the responsibility of weight management for athletes in sports 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 that 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, as per a statement from IOA.
