Hyderabad: Entire India is currently advocating for giving a silver medal to wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was disqualified from the women's 50 kg wrestling final after being found 100 grams overweight than the prescribed weight on the morning of the gold medal bout. The decision on Vinesh's appeal for awarding her silver for reaching the final while competing in the first three bouts within the prescribed weight category is expected to be announced on Tuesday, August 13.
The Indian Olympics Association (IOA) hired a top Indian lawyer, Harish Salve, Salve represented the 29-year-old wrestler's side in the court on Friday and the Indian wrestler put her all points before the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CSA) during the hearing.
According to a report in the Indian Express, "Vinesh Phogat's lawyer stated that the distance between the Champ de Mars Arena, where the wrestling event took place, and the Athletes Village was a key reason for her failure to make the required weigh-in. The lawyer also mentioned that the tight schedule between matches did not allow her enough time to reduce her weight, which had reached 52.7 kg after the first day of her competition."
The lawyer further argued that "Vinesh did not gain any competitive advantage as she had the extra 100 grams on the second morning, which did not give her any competitive advantage."
"The excess of 100 grams is negligible, (which is about 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of the athlete's weight) and it could easily be due to bloating in the human body in hot weather, as heat causes the human body to retain more water, scientifically for survival purposes. It could also be due to increased muscle mass as the athlete competed thrice in a single day," the report further stated.
According to the report, "Phogat's lawyer went on to say that this could also be due to the diet that the athlete consumes 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 has also denied the argument that eating extra food is behind weight gain.
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