Vinesh Phogat was disqualified earlier this week from competing in the final of the 50kg freestyle wrestling. She weighed 100 grams more than the required weight and her disqualification stunned many in India's sporting fraternity. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) also released an official statement confirming the development and it left India's sporting fans shell-shocked.
The Indian athlete appealed against the disqualification and asked for her to be awarded a silver medal. The matter is currently with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) with Harish Salve representing Vinesh's case and the decision on the same is likely to come before the end of the Games.
After Vinesh's disqualification, Cuba's wrestler Yusneylys Guzmán progressed to the final despite losing to her in the semifinal. She lost to the USA's Sarah Hildebrandt 3-0 in the gold medal clash and ended up settling with silver. Meanwhile, Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement on the very next day of the disqualification stating that she has no courage left in her now after losing the medal in her third consecutive Olympics. "Wrestling won the match against me, I lost...my courage is all broken, I don't have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024. I will forever be in your debt," she wrote in her tweet.
Moreover, Jordon Burroughs, a USA wrestler who is a gold medallist and six-time world champion, also came forward in support of Vinesh urging United World Wrestling (UWW) to award her a silver medal while also asking the body to change the weigh-in at least for the final.
"Proposed Immediate Rule Changes for UWW: 1.) 1kg second Day Weight Allowance. 2.) Weigh-ins pushed from 8:30 am to 10:30 am. 3.) Forfeit will occur in future finals if the opposing finalist misses weight. 4.) After a semifinal victory, both finalists’ medals are secured even if weight is missed on Day 2. Gold can only be won by a wrestler who makes weight on the second day. 5.) Give Vinesh the Silver medal," his tweet read.
Has Vinesh Phogat been disqualified from the Paris Olympics 2024 as per law?
We asked the India TV readers their opinion on Vinesh Phogat's case if her disqualification was as per law. More than 11000 users answered the poll and the majority of them were of the opinion that Vinesh was disqualified as per the UWW norms. A total of 69% of the India TV readers responded 'Yes' to our poll while 20% of them thought that she shouldn't have been disqualified.
India TV Poll Result (Total votes - 11374)
Yes - 69% (7930 votes)
No - 20% (2265 votes)
Can't Say - 11% (1180 votes)
