As Vinesh Phogat awaits the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) decision on her appeal against her disqualification from the women's 50kg freestyle final of the Paris Olympics 2024, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha has said that it is the responsibility of the athlete to manage their weight.
Her statement is seen as an effort to defend the IOA medical team, which is at the receiving end of criticism following Phogat's disqualification.
PT Usha, herself a former Olympian said that when it comes to events like wrestling, weightlifting and boxing, the responsibility of weight management is on the athlete and their coach. IOA-appointed Chief Medical Officer can't take the blame for the same, she said.
"The hate directed at the IOA medical team, especially Dr. Pardiwala, is unacceptable and worthy of condemnation
"...the responsibility of weight management of athletes in sport like wrestling, weightlifting, boxing and judo is that of each athlete and his or her coach and NOT that of the IOA-appointed Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala and his team," Usha said in a statement.
Earlier, Dr. Pardiwala's team was accused of negligence that led to the ace grappler's disqualification ahead of a historic medal at Paris. The IOA's medical unit was tasked primarily to assist in case of an injury and had no nutritionists in the team, Usha said. Every athlete travelled to Paris with a personal support team, she added.
"Each Indian athlete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in such sport had his or her own support team. These support teams have been working with the athletes over so many years," Usha said. "The IOA appointed a medical team a couple of months ago, primarily as a team that would assist in the recovery and injury management of athletes during and after their competition. This team was also designed to support athletes who did not have their own team of nutritionists and physiotherapists."
29-year-old Vinesh Phogat, who was at the forefront of the wrestler's protest against ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was disqualified for being 100gm overweight at the time on weigh-in ahead of the final on Wednesday. It came as a heartbreak for the entire country as Phogat had become the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the final of Olympic wrestling.