The entire country awaits the Court of Arbitration (CAS) decision on wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s joint silver medal appeal.
Vinesh Phogat awaits the Court of Arbitration (CAS) decision
Vinesh, who was disqualified before her final in the Women’s Freestyle 50k wrestling match, weighed 100 grams more than the 50kg limit. As the arguments before the CAS continue, Vinesh has reportedly cited the short schedule between her bouts, as well as the distance between Athletes’ Village and the competition stadium, as reasons for her failure to meet the weight cut.
According to a story in the Indian Express, Phogat’s representative cited the distance between Champ de Mars Arena, the wrestling competition location, and the Athletes Village as a contributing cause to her falling short to make the weight cut.
The Indian wrestler’s lawyer also claimed that the tight schedule between bouts did not give her enough time to lose weight, which had reached 52.7 kg after the first day of competition.
The lawyer further contended that Vinesh’s extra 100g on the second morning provided her with no competitive edge.
“The excess of 100g is extremely negligible (representing around 0.1 to 0.2 percent of the athlete’s weight) and can easily be caused by the bloating of a human body during summer weather, as the heat causes the human body to retain more water, scientifically for survival purposes.”
It could also be attributable to the athlete’s increased muscle mass from competing three times on the same day. It can also be caused by the athlete’s food consumption after the events to support her health and integrity for the tough competitions,” Phogat’s counsel claimed, according to the article.
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