India regrets after wrestler’s Paris 2024 disqualification upheld

New Delhi, Aug 15 (EFE).— India expressed regret on Thursday after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected an appeal against the Paris 2024 disqualification wrestler Vinesh Phogat, a key figure in anti-government protests over alleged sexual harassment of athletes last year.

Phogat was disqualified for exceeding the weight limit just as she was set to compete for the gold in the women’s 50kg event at the Paris Olympics on August 7.

She weighed 100 grams over the limit during the weigh-in just before the final match.

Following a strict diet—barely eating or drinking to meet the 50kg requirement—she ended up in the hospital. Her team even cut her hair and altered her clothing in a desperate attempt to reduce her weight, but it was unsuccessful.

“It is very unfortunate and shocking. We were hoping the decision would be in our favor,” Phogat’s trainer, Virendra Dahiya, told the Indian media.

The athlete’s team appealed the disqualification to CAS, requesting that Phogat be awarded a shared silver medal since she had made weight in the matches leading up to the final. However, court rejected the appeal last night, stating that it would soon publish the reasons for its decision.

“It is disappointing. Vinesh worked very hard, and we were hopeful even when the deadline was extended. It is disappointing that the court has rejected the appeal,” Indian Olympic Association (IOA) counsel Vidhuspat Singhania said.

The court had postponed its decision three times, raising expectations in India, which had hoped for what could have been its seventh medal in Paris 2024, and its second silver. Until her disqualification, Phogat was the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the final.

She announced her withdrawal just one day after the disqualification, citing that she had “no more strength to continue.” India, including its government, stood firmly behind Phogat following her disqualification.

The government announced that it had lodged “a strong protest to the International Federation of Associated Wrestling.” The IOA faced criticism, particularly on social media, for failing to monitor the wrestler’s weight. In response, its president, PT Usha, stated on Sunday that the responsibility lay with the wrestler and her team, not with the Indian committee doctors.

Phogat was a central figure in last year’s top Indian wrestler protests, following allegations of abuse and assault by their federation chief, Brij Bhushan Singh, a former parliamentarian and senior leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh has consistently denied the allegations.

Phogat, a two-time World Championship medalist, had vociferously alleged that at least 10 female wrestlers told her they had been sexually exploited by Singh, then chief of the Wrestling Federation of India. EFE

hbc-ssk