Vinesh Phogat's appeal dismissal is no surprise, here's why

The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to deny women’s 50kg wrestler Vinesh Phogat a joint silver medal and reject her appeal aligns with predictions made by United World Wrestling (UWW) president Nenad Lalovic and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach.

In 2017, wrestling’s governing body altered its competition rules, introducing a two-day format for international events like the Olympics and World Championships within each weight category, replacing the previous single-day system where all matches for a weight class were held on the same day.

Vinesh Phogat loses appeal: Sad end, but don’t forget her fight

While the two-day format presents commercial advantages, it also requires wrestlers to weigh-in over two separate days. The rationale is that if athletes must compete in a specific weight class for two consecutive days, they must maintain body-weight closer to their designated class, as losing weight on consecutive days poses significant challenges.

Lalovic reinforced this idea at the Paris Olympics following the announcement of Phogat’s disqualification. He said that excessive weight loss is detrimental to athletes’ health.

“The wrestlers are losing too much weight and it’s not good for their health. Many have seen their interest at the moment but they don’t see what happens in 20-30 years. We want athletes to compete at their natural weight. That’s the idea. This is when they make the best performances,” Lalovic said.

Read | UWW have to enforce their rules, especially at the Olympics

Despite her efforts to reduce her weight from 52.7 kg to 50.1 kg after her semi-final bout against Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman, Phogat missed the required weight by just 100 grams. The struggle she faced to lose that final weight was met with much sympathy, yet the established rules were designed with athlete welfare in mind, and disregarding them in favour of sentiment would betray that intent.

Lalovic remarked, “I am really so sad and I understand Vinesh, her disappointment… (But) If you allow this 100 grams, then you would be allowed 200 grams. There is no end…”

Bach also expressed empathy, acknowledging the human aspect of the situation during an IOC media conference in Paris. “I have a certain understanding for the wrestler (Vinesh Phogat); it’s clearly a human touch,” he had said in Paris. “Now, it’s (appeal) in CAS. We will, at the end, follow the CAS decision. But again, the international (wrestling) federation, they have to apply their interpretation, their rules. This is their responsibility,” he said.

In the wake of the CAS ad-hoc division’s ruling, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) have announced their intention to explore additional legal avenues for Vinesh Phogat.