Vinesh Phogat in action at the Paris Olympics 2024© AFP
Drawing criticism for Vinesh Phogat's weigh-in fiasco, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha on Sunday made it clear that it is the responsibility of the athlete to manage their weight and the attack on its medical team, especially Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala is "unacceptable and worthy of condemnation." The 29-year-old Vinesh was left heartbroken after she was disqualified ahead of her gold-medal bout in freestyle 50kg for being 100gm overweight in the morning weigh-in, crushing her Olympic dreams and prompting her to announce her retirement.
The incident started a blame game, also leading to an uproar in the Parliament, with some sections attacking Dr Pardiwala and his team for negligence with former IOA chief Narendra Batra indicating that Vinesh's diet might have had something to do with her disqualification.
"...the responsibility of weight management of athletes in sport 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 in a statement.
"...the hate directed at the IOA medical team, especially Dr. Pardiwala, is unacceptable and worthy of condemnation." She hoped that those rushing to judge the IOA medical team "would consider all facts before arriving at any conclusions".
Vinesh had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in her category on Tuesday night. But her post-participation weight was found to have increased and despite all measures, which included cutting off Vinesh's hair, she was found to be 100gm extra during the morning weigh-in.
"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," Usha said.
"The IOA appointed a medical team a couple of months ago, primarily as a team that would assist in the recovery and injury management of athletes during and after their competition. This team was also designed to support athletes who did not have their own team of nutritionists and physiotherapists." Vinesh has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), demanding that she be awarded a joint silver medal with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who had lost to the Indian but was later promoted to the final following the Haryana wrestler's disqualification.
American Sarah Hildebrandt won the gold after defeating Lopez in the title clash.
The decision on Vinesh's appeal is expected to come on August 13.
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