North News
Chandigarh, August 20
About a week after announcing its verdict on Vinesh Phogat’s case, the Court of Arbitration of Sports has released a full report of its entire proceedings. “This is a very difficult situation. The facts are undisputed: when the applicant weighed in for the finals at the Paris Olympics, she weighed more than the 50 kg limit for her wrestling division. Had she competed, she would have received either the gold or silver medal. Her victory in the competition had put her in that position,” stated the document released by CAS on August 19.
“She intentionally entered the 50 kg category and, according to the evidence, followed a regime to stay inside that weight limit. Her evidence was that she did not have the time to complete a weight loss program, not that she believed it interfered with her bodily rights,” reported the News18.
Vinesh was disqualified from the Paris Olympics for failing to make weight on the second day of the tournament after she was discovered to be 100 g overweight. According to the UWW rules, a wrestler must pass the weigh-in on both days of competition. While a weight tolerance of 2 kg is allowed in international tournaments according to UWW rules, no such buffer exists for the Olympics.
“The consequences of the failed second weigh-in, which were not caused by any illegal or wrongful act on the part of the applicant, are, in the view of the sole arbitrator, draconian,” reported The Economic Times.
Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman to qualify for the Olympic final but was disqualified for being 100 g overweight. After her disqualification, she announced her retirement and filed an appeal requesting a shared silver medal with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez. After three postponements, CAS released their final verdict, dismissing her appeal. Phogat returned to India on Saturday, August 17.
