Paris: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President P.T. Usha on Wednesday stressed that all necessary measures were taken to help wrestler Vinesh Phogat reduce weight and make the cut for the 50 kg weight class final and promised that all measures are being taken to provide mental, emotional and technical support to her to tackle her disqualification from the Paris Olympic Games.
While informing that she had spoken to Vinesh Phogat in the Polyclinic at the Games Village, Usha said that the Indian contingent’s medical team helped Vinesh and her support staff reduce her weight to 50 kg for her final bout on Wednesday morning.
“I met Vinesh at the Olympic Village Polyclinic a short while ago and assured her of the complete support of the Indian Olympic Association, the Government of India and the whole country. We are providing Vinesh with all medical and emotional support,” Usha told IANS on Wednesday.
Usha’s statement seems to have come in the wake of claims of a conspiracy story by many social media influencers and supporters of Vinesh Phogat. There were claims that the IOA and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) did not exploit all possible avenues to ensure Vinesh would return with at least a silver medal from the Olympics. It is being suggested that Vinesh should have withdrawn from the event citing injury or ill health following her three bouts when it looked like she would not be able to achieve the permissible weight.
Usha said that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has filed an appeal with the United World Wrestling (UWW) to reconsider the decision to disqualify Vinesh.
“The Wrestling Federation of India has filed an appeal to UWW to reconsider the decision to disqualify Vinesh and IOA is following that up in the strongest possible manner,” said the former Sprint Queen who had narrowly missed a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, losing out on the third place in Women’s 400m hurdles by one-hundredth of a second.
Having missed an Olympic medal herself, Usha is aware of how Vinesh must be feeling.
“I am shocked and disappointed at Vinesh’s disqualification from the Olympic Games Women’s Wrestling 50kg class competition,” she said.
The IOA President also claimed that she is aware of the efforts that were taken to ensure Vinesh lost weight ahead of Wednesday morning’s weigh-in.
“I am aware of the relentless efforts made by Vinesh, the medical team, led by Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala and the Chef-de-Mission Gagan Narang through the night to ensure that she could meet the competition requirements,” said Usha.
She said the IOA is taking every step to ensure that the morale of the contingent remains high. “We are sure all Indians will stand with Vinesh and the entire Indian contingent,” said Usha.
(IANS)
