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Vinesh Phogat’s bid for an Olympic medal was crushed at Paris Olympics after she was disqualified ahead of her gold medal bout. Vinesh was set to compete in the 50kg freestyle wrestling final before she was found 100gms overweight during the weigh in before the final. However, she can still win a medal if the loophole in the United World Wrestling rule book can be exploited.
Vinesh Phogat’s chances of winning an Olympic medal
Vinesh had appealed for a joint silver with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and her fate will be decided on Tuesday, August 13. According to Article 11 of the United World Wrestling (UWW)'s rule book, an athlete who doesn't make the permissible weight cut will be eliminated from the tournament. "If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he will be eliminated of the competition and ranked last, without rank (Exception: cf. Article 56 - Medical Service Intervention)."
However, noted journalist Boria Mazumdar (Revsportz) explained a loophole in the UWW rulebook that Vinesh could challenge if the verdict goes against her favour. According to the rules for the repechage round in wrestling, the athletes who lost to the eventual finalists, would get a second chance in the competition to battle for the bronze medal. In the women's 50kg category, Susaki was one of the competitors in the repechage round, given that she lost to Vinesh in her opening bout, and the Japanese eventually went on to win one of the two bronze medals.
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But why would Susaki even be on the list for the repechage round given that Vinesh was ranked last following the disqualification? Shouldn't the wrestlers who lost to Cuba's Yusneylys Guzmán, who replaced Vinesh in the final after the latter's disqualification, be named for the repechage round? By having allowed Susaki to compete in the repechage round, UWW indirectly indicated that Vinesh was a finalist in Paris, thus contradicting their own rules. And, by that logic, a silver medal should be a certainty for the Indian.
Will Vinesh take retirement U-Turn?
Vinesh Phogat did everything in her power to try and cut down on her weight before her gold medal match but she was unable to do so resulting in her getting disqualified.The Olympic medal dream was shattered by 100gms of extra-weight. Following the verdict se was hospitalized due to severe health condition.
Before getting discharged from the hospital, Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling after losing the medal. But her famous uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters have promised to convince Vinesh to rethink on her decision to quit the sport.
Vinesh Phogat had become the first-ever Indian female wrestler to reach the finals at the Olympics.
