Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 8: A ray of hope, al beit a very faint one, is claimed to be still alive for the ace Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat who was disqualified for overweight by a mere 100 grams in her 50 Kgs category in the Paris Olympics, and promptly announced her retirement, after the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) deferred a decision on her appeal.
An ad hoc division of CAS has been set up in Paris for the resolution of any disputes arising during the Olympic Games.
According to the latest developments on Thursday, Vinesh had appealed against her disqualification in the CAS on two counts. The first was to let her weigh in again, which the court rejected and stated that the decision has been made and the gold medal match would be played as scheduled.
The second appeal was to award her a silver medal because she had earned it with a proper weigh-in on Tuesday. The CAS has said it would deliberate on it.
However, with the final match already played between the USA wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt and Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, whom Vinesh had defeated in the semi-final, it was not clear how Vinesh could still be awarded a silver. Hildebrandt has secured the gold medal in the women’s 50 kg freestyle wrestling after defeating Lopez who was awarded silver. Vinesh Phogat was originally supposed to wrestle for the top prize.
The 29-year-old Vinesh announced her decision to retire on social media, seeking forgiveness from everyone who supported her. Addressing her mother Premlata, Vinesh wrote, “Ma, wrestling has won, I have lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my courage, everything is broken.” “I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I shall be indebted to you all. Forgive (me),” added the two-time world championships bronze-medallist.
Vinesh’s relationship with the Olympic Games has been a painful one, starting with her debut in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. She had to be stretchered off the mat after suffering a career-threatening anterior cruciate ligament tear in her quarterfinal bout. Vinesh was 21 at the time and sobbed bitterly through that ordeal, something that prompted an emotional response from even her opponent, China’s Sun Yanan, who famously walked along with the stretcher as a gesture of support for the debutant.
She rebuilt herself over the next four years and made it to the Tokyo Games, which were held at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. But this time, she seemed a bit underprepared and was knocked out following a quarterfinal loss.
Her build-up for the 2024 Games was perhaps the most controversy-ridden and tumultuous. She was on the streets for over a month, protesting against the then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and the “government inaction” on the charges of sexual assault against him.
She eventually dropped to the 50 kg category to stay in the hunt for an Olympic spot and, against all odds, made it too. But, as fate would have it, she fell short yet again.
Meanwhile, The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has strongly reacted to the reposts claiming a 3-year ban on wrestler Antim Panghal on Thursday. Some News Agency reports had initially reported that the young wrestler will likely be banned on disciplinary grounds. However, the IOA refuted via a social media post, asking the media to check with the association leadership before reporting such issues.
“IMPORTANT: IOA refutes reports that a ban has been imposed on wrestler Antim. It requests media persons to please check with the IOA leadership before posting such reports,” the IOA stated. Earlier, it was reported that Panghal was deported from Paris with her entire entourage for a major disciplinary breach where the young wrestler handed her official accreditation card to her sister who was caught by security while leaving the Games Village.
Panghal had crashed out of the Olympics after losing her opening bout in the women’s 53kg category on Wednesday. Later, the Indian Olympic Association decided to send her and her support staff back after the disciplinary breach was brought to its notice by the French authorities. “The Indian Olympic Association has decided to fly wrestler Antim and her support staff back after a disciplinary breach was brought to IOA’s notice by the French authorities,” an IOA statement said.
While IOA did not share what the disciplinary breach was, sources said her sister was caught for alleged impersonation. “Instead of heading to the Games Village, she reached the hotel where her coach Bhagat Singh and sparring partner Vikas, who is actually her coach, were staying. Antim asked her sister to go to the Games Village and come back with her belongings. Her sister was caught for impersonation and was taken to a police station to record her statement,” said the source.
The 19-year-old U20 world champion Antim was also called by police to record her statement. If that was not enough, Antim’s personal support staff – Vikas & Bhagat – travelled in an inebriated state in a taxi and refused to pay the driver, who then called police.