Paris, Aug 15: Strange but true. She received support from unexpected quarters in her strive for a joint Silver medal in Paris Olympics 2024, after she was adjudged disqualified before her old medal fight, for weighing 100 grams more.
But there was hardly any consoling or supportive words from her own wrestling association bosses. She was rather blamed for mismanagement of her weight and being part of the 15-16 months long wrestlers' protests in Delhi.
It is difficult to face life as Indian woman wrestler Vinesh Phogat. The recent jolt for the three-time Olympian Vinesh is that the ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed her petition for a joint Silver medal in Paris Olympics.
Hours before the CAS decision against Vinesh on Wednesday, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanajy Singh has remarked that people are unaware of wrestling rules, when they are objecting to disqualification for 100 grams overweight.
But that was not all. He also blamed the protesting wrestlers for staging a 15-16 months long unrest, which cost India 5-6 medals in Paris Olympics 2024.
Vinesh along with former Olympic medal winning wrestlers duo of Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik were leading the protests.
While there were supports from unexpected quarters like athletes and wrestlers from other countries for Vinesh, her own association passing adverse remarks and holding her responsible for Paris games failure was bit shocking to many.
Many Indian sports icons including Sachin Tendulkar and crores of Indian fans have extended their wholeheartedly support to Vinesh. In such a scenario, the WFI voicing a different opinion was bit unexpected, feel many.
However, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president and former Olympian PT Usha has expressed her shock and disappointment at CAS dismissing Vinesh's appeal.
In her statement, Usha stated, “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."
Though Usha's statement is a positive for heartbroken Vinesh, but her dream of winning a joint Silver medal in Paris Games 2024 has been shattered. The greatest shock of course was WFI president's adverse remarks prior to the CAS decision on her appeal.
