Thursday, February 13, 2025

Phogat broke silence in front of CAS, reveals why her weight had increased

The whole of India is currently advocating for giving the silver medal to wrestler Vinesh Phogat. The decision of the Court of Arbitration (CAS) is awaited on Phogat’s petition.

Before the final of the women’s freestyle 50k wrestling match, Phogat was disqualified due to weight gain. Vinesh’s weight was 100 grams more than the limit of 50 kg.

The hearing of this case in CAS has been completed and the decision is to come on August 13. At the same time, Vinesh has put forth her point in front of CSA. Let us tell you that Harish Salve has presented his side in the court on behalf of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Vinesh Phogat.

According to a report “Vinesh Phogat’s lawyer cited the distance between the Champ de Mars Arena, the venue of the wrestling competition, and the Athletes’ Village as a key reason for her failure to make the prescribed weigh-in. The Indian wrestler’s lawyer also said that the hectic schedule between bouts did not give her enough time to lose weight, which had touched the 52.7 kg mark after the first day of her competition.”

The lawyer further argued that “Vinesh did not gain any competitive advantage as she had an extra 100 grams on the second day morning, which did not give her any competitive advantage.” The report further states that, ‘The excess of 100 grams is negligible, (which is about 0.1 to 0.2 percent of the athlete’s weight) and it could easily be due to the bloating of the human body in hot weather, as heat causes the human body to retain more water, scientifically for the purpose of survival. This could also be due to muscle growth as the athlete competed three times in a single day.”

According to the report, “Phogat’s lawyer said that this could also be due to the food consumed by the athlete to maintain her health and integrity after competitions.”

The reports that have come out also mention that the lawyer has denied the possibility of fraud or manipulation. And the argument of eating extra food behind weight gain has also been denied. Let us tell you that CAS is going to give its decision on the Vinesh Phogat case on August 13. Former Indian veteran captain Sourav Ganguly has also advocated giving the silver medal to Phogat.

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