[DigitalOne]

From what I gathered from various news reports, the category change from 53Kg to 50Kg was done because Antim Panghal was better qualified than Vinesh in the 53Kg category. So, the decision was made, sometime in May this year, by Vinesh Phogat and the federation to try for the 50Kg category. It was not an ad-hoc decision.

As per this news report, internal testing showed that she had gained 2kgs through the day yesterday because of carbohydrate and electrolyte intakes in between her three fights.

Whole night of jogging, skipping, and other exercises brought it down to just over 50kg but it was not enough.

Such a disappointment for such a tough fighter . Can't imagine the pain she must be going through.

[kiranknair]

Again I am asking the same question - shaving off the hair would have reduced the weight if it was only 100 grams more. Was this not attempted? And I am pretty sure her team would have been having weighing scales (and even if you did not have the exact match to the olympic weighing scale - they would have known the amount to caliberate)

[hothatchaway]

Vinesh was the face of the protest against the federation in the sexual harassment case a few months back, it is no secret the lengths the administration went to in order to protect the guilty.

She fought her way against all odds to even be at the Olympics before launching her incredible string of three wins to make it to the finals.

Like many of us have already pointed out, the weighing protocol is no secret and for her to trip up and be ruled out just before the finals is clear evidence of foul play from people who are supposed to back and support her. Even if Phogat had come back with a silver, it would have been impossible to ignore any more, all the controversy that had happened at home.

Feel ashamed to be an Indian today. Hope Vinesh Phogat recovers and is able to pick up the pieces and move on

[PreludeSH]

Being at the borderline and maintaining it seems to have been the problem. If you go by the statement of the doctor, they have been maintaining the calorie intake, nutrition and water at a very tight level. They tried cutting hair, shortening the dress etc overnight.

Really sad but weight categories have always been such. Takes a lot I guess. Over this having the energy to fight deserves accolades.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Vinesh was the face of the protest against the federation in the sexual harassment case a few months back, it is no secret the lengths the administration went to in order to protect the guilty.

*snip*

Feel ashamed to be an Indian today. Hope Vinesh Phogat recovers and is able to pick up the pieces and move on

I understand this is a discussion thread and people can offer their opinions but going so far as to believe in such conspiracy theories and feeling bad for being an Indian? That's best left to discussions on whatsapp groups.

No doubt the weight debacle is a bad experience considering just how amazingly well she fought in the quarter and semi. You have to feel bad for her.

Hope the appeals are considered but looks like no chances for that :(

[ads11]

Originally Posted by PreludeSH

If you go by the statement of the doctor, they have been maintaining the calorie intake, nutrition and water at a very tight level. They tried cutting hair, shortening the dress etc overnight.

Originally Posted by kiranknair

Again I am asking the same question - shaving off the hair would have reduced the weight if it was only 100 grams more.

I should add that for weight cuts that are really on the bubble - you'll often see the fighter do the weigh in naked (i.e., the sanctioning body staff present will hold up a towel around the fighter as they step on the scales).

Example: https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/4/1...-of-his-career

https://youtu.be/pNNfYU_019s

Look at how gaunt my man DC looks there - he's usually rotund.
Read some of his quotes from that incident - mind you he was at the top of the UFC game at that time yet here they were sweating over a discrepancy between bathroom scales and being 1 lbs over.

All that being said - making weight is still kind of an inexact science. For all the advances in sports science, if you look at the guys at the cutting edge of MMA for eg, the big UFC PPV fighters and their documented weight cuts - you'd swear some of the techniques and systems are from the old Jack Johnson days let alone Joe Louis.

[ABHI_1512]

The video statements of PT Usha and Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala on the Vinesh Phogat fiasco is absolute rubbish ! They are looking like reading from a script just to justify the disqualification and not at all agitated by the decision that robbed India a definite medal. PT Usha is the present IOA President for god’s sake and not some random person. She should have been livid but here she is- quietly sitting with folded hands and reading like a mannequin. Absolutely shocking

https://youtu.be/8C9BbHzvAkc?feature=shared

[Fuldagap]

Phogat handed over a mesmerising defeat to the Japanese who was undefeated for 80 straight wrestling competitions prior. It is indeed a strange story of Phogat. It reeks of being crushed by immense politics and abuse back home and yet rising & shining as true Olympian with merit and grit. It's quite a shame seeing her lose the medal. Hers is an inspirational story for generations.

Here's an interesting narration:

Vinesh Phogat, Olympian: The First Draft of a Movie Script

And though I knew the result, I watched with heart-in-mouth dread as, with Vinesh trailing 0-2, the clock ticked down to the last 10 seconds of the bout – and I damn near jumped out of my chair when, out of nowhere, came that irresistible attack that handed Susaki her first defeat in competitive wrestling after 80 straight wins.

"I am fighting for the future generation of wrestlers. Not for myself, my career is done and this is my last Olympics. I want to fight for the young women wrestlers who will come and fight for them so that they can wrestle safely. That's why I was in Jantar Mantar, and that's why I am here."

[whencut86]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Vinesh was the face of the protest against the federation in the sexual harassment case a few months back, it is no secret the lengths the administration went to in order to protect the guilty.

Like many of us have already pointed out, the weighing protocol is no secret and for her to trip up and be ruled out just before the finals is clear evidence of foul play from people who are supposed to back and support her. Even if Phogat had come back with a silver, it would have been impossible to ignore any more, all the controversy that had happened at home.

Feel ashamed to be an Indian today. Hope Vinesh Phogat recovers and is able to pick up the pieces and move on

Feeling ashamed to be an Indian is just going too far. Her weight category was 53 kgs and she opted for the 50kg category. She knew the risks. She was under 50kgs yesterday and was in sauna to sweat and reduce weight, no food and no liquids and very less hydration. Not blaming her here but she and her team went to great lengths to stick to 50kgs but tough luck. She had to be admitted for taking drips due to dehydration today.

Her normal weight category is the 53KG one and she lost the trials in the Nationals and another wrestler represented India in the 53kg category. She requested to contest in 50KG category months before Olympics and she was trying to maintain her weight at 50KG since March-April this year.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...8.cms?from=mdr

The same administration you are criticizing consented to her requests for private coach and private physio and her own diet all at tax payers expense. The same administration let her play Asian Games without playing in the nationals and let her move down to 50kg at the last moment. Please don't believe some WhatsApp rumors since we can't fool the Olympic Federation internationally and deliberately increase her weight.

She tried to trick the weighing scales with lot of stuff but there is only so much her body could cope up with and it was tough luck. Agree that she was 50kg during weight check yesterday and won her bout fair and square and she atleast deserves a Silver but Olympic Federation rules are different though. Unfair but have to live with it not just for her but for all of us who wanted her to win Gold today.

No offence. Just my 2 cents. Please let us not make it political.

[kkstile]

Let's agree that she was overweight before the finals but she won all her earlier matches fair and square. Why discredit her earlier results? This is not a case of doping. The rules seem very harsh and inexplicable.

[dmplog]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

They are looking like reading from a script

I am quite surprised why they should not read from a statement - especially when there's so much of scrutiny all over India? Ideally you don't want to put a word wrong! Otherwise there's another criticism waiting.
C'mon, let's not get carried away.
Disqualification was heartbreaking and we should definitely learn from these situations. But let's not criticize everything about it.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by whencut86

……

Some points to the above :

Her normal weight category is the 53KG one and she lost the trials in the Nationals and another wrestler represented India in the 53kg category. She requested to contest in 50KG category months before Olympics and she was trying to maintain her weight at 50KG since March-April this year.

Can you point me to the news where it says that Vinesh Phogat lost the National trails and that she requested the federation to contest in the 50 kg category.

Truth is, while she was protesting, another wrestler took the quota place in the 50 kg category and which forced Vinesh to look for another weight category.

The same administration you are criticizing consented to her requests for private coach and private physio and her own diet all at tax payers expense. The same administration let her play Asian Games without playing in the nationals and let her move down to 50kg at the last moment.

This talk of tax payers money is so lame and below the dignity of the player you are talking about. The players are representing the nation at the Olympics. They are playing for the flag. All this talk of tax payers money would have been put to back burner had Vinesh came back with the gold. The reason nations like USA and China are top of the medals tally is because their governments support the talents across sports and they are all funded by tax payers money only when it comes to Olympic sports.

The talk of administration letting her play is obnoxious. You mean she was at the mercy of the federation or what ?

The Indian Contingent has more officials than the number of athletes put together as it has always been. What are they doing on the tax payers money ? Please think about that too.

[whencut86]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Can you point me to the news where it says that Vinesh Phogat lost the National trails and that she requested the federation to contest in the 50 kg category.

Truth is, while she was protesting, another wrestler took the quota place in the 50 kg category and which forced Vinesh to look for another weight category.

Please read the news article below. She lost the 53 kgs bout but won the 50kgs bout and she held the National Trials start for over 3 hours because of this issue. The Wrestling Federation was kind enough to bear with all this and still let her through to Olympics Qualifications.

https://www.outlookindia.com/sports/...ng-proceedings

This talk of tax payers money is so lame and below the dignity of the player you are talking about.

My point was not about tax payers money wasted or tax money being spent on her. Please read my reply to that post again. I mentioned it in response to the post which mentioned that the administration did nothing and let her down. My point was only to show that she had the full backing of the administration.

When there is a rule that you need to win the National Selection Trials to qualify for International competition, athletes should be bound by this. How can someone delay the start National Trial selection for a few hours for an individual case? Wasn't she allowed to compete in 2 weight categories which is against the norms? Doesn't this reek of special treatment?

Can athletes in Western countries go over the Federations in their countries and follow a different set of rules in USA or China? They all follow a strict regimen of discipline and intense training.

I don't want to argue further on this and do not wish to make it political. I have posted the news article and you can form your own opinion.

[kkstile]

Vinesh has fought and won in various weight classes throughout her career starting from 48kg - 55kg. Her medal record shows that she was a international top level athlete and at that level, every athlete attempts to take every possible advantage they can get.

So all this accusation about her trying to gain some unfair advantage is just loose talk.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by whencut86

Please read the news article below. She lost the 53 kgs bout but won the 50kgs bout and she held the National Trials start for over 3 hours because of this issue. The Wrestling Federation was kind enough to bear with all this and still let her through to Olympics Qualifications.


When there is a rule that you need to win the National Selection Trials to qualify for International competition, athletes should be bound by this. How can someone delay the start National Trial selection for a few hours for an individual case? Wasn't she allowed to compete in 2 weight categories which is against the norms? Doesn't this reek of special treatment?

Can athletes in Western countries go over the Federations in their countries and follow a different set of rules in USA or China? They all follow a strict regimen of discipline and intense training.

I don't want to argue further on this and do not wish to make it political. I have posted the news article and you can form your own opinion.

Okay then, since we are at it. Let’s clear some confusion for you.

First and foremost, at the time of the trials, the ad-hoc committee was running the duties of the federation since the federation was suspended due to the sexual harassment charges against the president.

Secondly, that delay you are talking about was because Vinesh Phogat wanted some assurances. She was fearful that if the federation is reinstated, she might be penalised and the selection criteria changed for the Olympics. The same thing is mentioned in the article that you shared.

Thirdly, one can compete in two weight categories as long as it is in the trials. After the trials are over, the athlete has to stick to only one weight category. The ad hoc committee along with the technical committee allowed her to participate. So competing in two weight categories are allowed in the trials. So here goes your against the rules part and the talk about giving special treatment !!

Vinesh demanded that the 53kg trials be held on Tuesday to let her compete in both weights. After it was decided that the selection could not be stretched to the next day, the ad-hoc committee conducting the trials along with the technical committee decided to allow her to fight in both weights since ‘there is no rule which stops a wrestler from competing in two weights in a trial.’

She competed in two categories to give herself the chance to represent India in the Olympics since the quota place in 53kgs was already bagged by someone else. And if the committee in charge allowed that despite her losing the second trial fight in 53 kg category, I see nothing unusual.

Now, coming to the most important part. Vinesh Phogat is a champion. This small talk about her getting special treatment, tax payers money spent on her is all very cheap. She has gone to great lengths to qualify for the Olympics despite the system. All those who are questioning her on her intent and integrity know nothing about the difficulties she has endured to reach Paris. Vinesh Phogat needs our support. She needed it when she was protesting against the sexual predator and she needs it now as she recuperates from a crushing blow in her quest for an Olympic medal.

And yes, I am also done on this topic and I am not writing one word more on this since there is no point, have written enough already. My reply was just to make sure that wrong interpretations and information should not be propagated from our forum at least.

Adding the link as well here:

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/wrest...le67938333.ece