Vinesh breaks silence after CAS dismisses plea for joint Olympic silver

Vinesh Phogat’s quest to win an Olympic medal came to an end for now in heartbreaking circumstances with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissing her plea for a joint silver.

While the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has said that it is exploring further options, the dismissal brings to an end an important chapter in an incident that has gripped the country and the wrestling world at large.

Now, Vinesh herself has posted her first reaction since the dismissal of her plea. The 29-year-old three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist posted a photo of her lying on the mat with her hands on her head on Instagram. She gave no caption to the picture. Although it looks like a picture in which she is in agony, it is in fact from the highest point of her campaign at the Paris Olympics, when she stunned defending champion Yui Sasaki of Japan in her women’s 50kg wrestling round of 16 bout.

It was the first time Sasaki had lost an international bout in her senior career. Vinesh then went on to beat Ukranian former World Championship bronze medallist Oksana Livach in the quarterfinal and then Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman in the semi-final to become the first Indian woman to reach an Olympic final in wrestling. However, Vinesh was then stunningly disqualified from the gold medal bout after being found to have missed her weight by 100gm the next morning.

Vinesh’s extraordinary run on the first day drew reactions from around the wrestling world and her disqualification sent even bigger shockwaves. Vinesh then made a demand to the CAS asking for a joint silver with whoever lost the gold medal match. Guzman, who had lost to Vinesh in the semi-finals, ended up fighting in the final where she lost to USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt.

The CAS delayed the announcement of their verdict a few times before finally announcing that her plea had been dismissed. IOA President PT Usha expressed her “shock and disappointment” at the outcome. In an official statement from the IOA, concerns were voiced over the decision of the Sole Arbitrator at CAS, which upheld the ruling in favour of United World Wrestling (UWW) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“The marginal discrepancy of a 100 grams and the resultant consequences has profound impact, not only in terms of Vinesh’s career but also raises serious questions about ambiguous rules and their interpretation,” said the IOA.

“The IOA firmly believes that the total disqualification of an athlete for such a weight infraction on the second of two days warrants a deeper examination. Our legal representatives had duly brought this out in their submissions before the Sole Arbitrator.

“The matter involving Vinesh highlights the stringent and, arguably, inhumane regulations that fail to account for the physiological and psychological stresses athletes, particularly female athletes, undergo. It is a stark reminder of the need for more equitable and reasonable standards that prioritize athletes’ well-being,” it said.