Vinesh Phogat’s Disqualification At Paris Olympics 2024: From Triumph To Setback To Fight For Justice.

Introduction

Vinesh Phogat was all set to bag gold for India in the 50 kg freestyle wrestling category at the Paris Olympics, 2024. The competition was scheduled for Wednesday, August 7th. However, the day was not in favour of India, the aspirations of a gold medal were crushed as Phogat got disqualified. The disqualification occurred because she slightly exceeded the weight requirement by a 100g. Before this unfortunate turn, Vinesh had displayed immense determination and resilience by defeating a tough lineup of opponents. She managed to defeat the reigning champion Yui Susaki from Japan in her opening match breaking Susaki’s record of 82-0 in international competitions. In her quarter finals Vinesh triumphed over champion Ukrainian wrestler Oksana Livach and then went on to defeat Yusneylis Guzman to secure a spot in the finals.

UWW’s Zero-Tolerance Policy

The body governing the wrestling sport in olympics has stringent rules and regulations, even a slight infraction in weight limit resulted in Vinesh’s disqualification. Article 7 of the charter of United World Wrestling (UWW), that governs the international wrestling competitions,  deals with the provisions of Age, Weight and Competition Categories.
In this section it is explicitly mentioned that each wrestler must weigh within the prescribed limit of their respective category at the time of weigh-in and if any wrestler fails to meet the weight requirement on either day of the competition, then such wrestler shall be disqualified from the competition.

CAS to Decide Vinesh’s Olympic Medal Fate 

If an athlete is aggrieved by the decisions of governing bodies they can appeal against the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 
Vinesh Phogat along with her team, being aggrieved by the decision of the governing body made two appeals in front of CAS- one regarding her ineligibility for the Olympics gold medal match and the second one was considered for joint silver medal. While the CAS rejected the first appeal, it accepted the second one. The submissions regarding the case have been completed but the wait for the verdict still continues