Though Vinesh Phogat still stands a chance at being awarded a silver medal for her performance at the Paris Olympic Games, India’s official medal count from wrestling reads just one bronze medal at the moment. Aman Sehrawat, competing in his maiden Olympic Games, bagged a bronze medal from the event, though the general perception of Indian wrestlers’ performance in the Paris Games is ordinary. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief feels the ordinary show is only because of the protests that wrestlers were involved in.
Top Indian wrestlers like Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik protested for about a year over the allegations made against former wrestling body chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
“If you look at it from the other angle, the protests that took place for 14-15 months disturbed the entire wrestling fraternity. Let alone one category, the wrestlers in other categories struggled as they could not practice without national and international tournaments. Hence, the wrestlers could not perform well,” Sanjay Singh told India Today.
Apart from Vinesh and Aman, who both impressed in Paris, other wrestlers like Anshu Malik (57kg), Reetika Hooda (76kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg) and Antim Panghal (53kg) failed to leave an impact.
As far as the verdict of Vinesh’s silver medal plea at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) goes, a decision is expected by August 16.
CAS has established an ad hoc division in Paris, led by President Michael Lenard from the US, to handle Olympic cases. This division operates within the Paris judicial court in the 17th arrondissement.
Vinesh Phogat was disqualified on the morning of the Paris Olympics final for exceeding the 50kg weight limit. During the weigh-in, she was found to be 100 grams over the limit.
Following her disqualification, Phogat had on August 7 requested CAS to award her the silver medal.
CAS had previously extended the deadline to August 13. Vinesh had reached the gold medal match by defeating Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez 5-0 in the semi-finals.
The 29-year-old was set to face Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the United States for the gold but was disqualified for the weight limit breach. A day after her disqualification, Vinesh also announced her decision to retire from wrestling.
With ANI Inputs
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