The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued a detailed verdict in response to Vinesh Phogat’s request for a joint silver at the Paris Olympics, saying it was “clearly up to the athlete to ensure they remain below” the upper limit in their respective weight categories.
The verdict specified that the rules cannot be modified for any of the athletes, not even for the “weight of the shirt.”
“The problem for the athlete is that the rules are clear as to the weight limit and they are the same for all participants. There is no tolerance provided for, it is an upper limit. Even the weight of the shirt is not allowed. It is clearly the athlete’s responsibility to ensure that he stays below that limit,” CAS said.
The verdict revealed that Vinesh was aware of the fact that she was 100 grams more than the upper limit, but wanted a tolerance “for reasons such as drinking water and water retention, particularly during the premenstrual phase”.
“There is no doubt that the complainant was over the weight limit. She presented the above-mentioned evidence clearly and directly at the hearing. Her argument is that the amount of excess was 100g and that a tolerance should be applied, as this is a small excess and explainable by reasons such as water consumption and fluid retention, particularly during the premenstrual phase,” the statement said.
Will Vinesh Phogat come out of retirement?
Vinesh was left heartbroken after the organising committee disqualified her from competing in the gold medal clash against American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt. The dejected wrestler took to social media platform ‘X’, formerly Twitter, to announce her retirement from the sport.
“As I have received love from my fellow Indians, my village and my family members, I guess I will get some courage to heal this wound. Maybe I can fight again,” Vinesh had told the crowd that had gathered to welcome him after his return to India from Paris.
“I just want to say that losing the Olympic medal is the biggest wound of my life. I don’t know how long it would take for this wound to heal. I don’t know if I would continue fighting or not, but the kind of courage I got today (Saturday), I want to use it in the right direction,” she had mentioned.
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