Paris Olympics: Court of Arbitration for Sport releases detailed verdict in response to Vinesh Phogat’s plea

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) released a detailed verdict in response to Vinesh Phogat’s plea for a joint silver at the Paris Olympics by saying that “it is clearly up to the athlete to ensure that they remain below” the upper limit in their respective weight categories.

The verdict specified that the rules can’t be bent for any of the athletes even by the “weight of the singlet”.

“The problem for the Athlete is that the Rules are clear as to the weight limit and are the same for all participants. There is no tolerance provided for -– it is an upper limit. It does not even allow for the weight of the singlet. It is clearly up to an athlete to ensure that they remain below that limit,” the CAS said.

The verdict revealed that Vinesh was cognizant of the fact that she was 100g more than the upper limit but wanted a tolerance “for reasons such as drinking water and water retention, in particular during the pre-menstrual phase”.

“There is no dispute that the Applicant was above the weight limit. She gave the above evidence clearly and directly at the hearing. Her case is that the amount of excess was 100g and that a tolerance should apply as this is a small excess and explicable for reasons such as drinking water and water retention, in particular during the pre-menstrual phase,” the release said.

Vinesh Phogat to come out of retirement?

Vinesh was heartbroken after the organizing committee disqualified her from competing in the summit clash for the gold medal against the USA’s Sarah Ann Hildebrandt. The crestfallen grappler took to the social media platform ‘X’, formerly Twitter to announce her retirement from the sport.

“As I got love from my fellow Indians, my village and my family members, I guess I would get some courage to make this wound heal. Maybe, I could return to wrestling,” Vinesh had told the crowd that had gathered to welcome her after she returned to India from Paris.

“I just want to say that missing the Olympic medal is the biggest wound in my life. I don’t know how much time it would take to heal this wound. I don’t know if I would pursue wrestling or not but the kind of courage I got today (Saturday), I want to use that in the right direction,” she had mentioned.