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The decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to deny Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat a joint silver medal for the 50-kilogram women's wrestling event and dismiss her appeal was one that the head of United World Wrestling, Nenad Lalovic, and even the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, had already hinted as being likely. The International wrestling federation made a change to its competition rules in 2017 and decided that international competitions like the Olympics and World Championships would be held over two days for each weight class, instead of having all bouts in a weight class compete on the same day as before.
There was also a commercial appeal for turning these wrestling events in a two-day format, it would also lead wrestlers to make weight on two different days. That's what the rationale was in the event that a competitor would need to show up in a specific weight classification for two days, their regular body weight would need to be a lot closer to their weight category, since cutting weight two days straight would be harder. This was affirmed by Lalovic at the Paris Olympics after Vinesh Phogat's suspension was declared.
Nenad Lalovic on weight cut
"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.
While Vinesh Phogat missed the 50kg weight limit by 100 grams on the second day, she cut it down from 52.7 kg to 50.1 kg after her last match on Day 1 against Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman. However, the last 100 grams not moving, and the phenomenal exertion put to shed it, evoked far-reaching empathy, yet the rules and regulations did what they were intended to do. They were chosen with the wrestlers' welfare in mind, and to reject them would necessitate abandoning the original intention in favor of sentiment.
“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,” Lalovic has said.
Thomas Bach on Vinesh's case
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach also noted the human aspect of the issue before highlighting how important it is for the International federations to fulfill their responsibility of applying their interpretation and their rules.
"I have a certain understanding of the wrestler (Vinesh Phogat); it’s clearly a human touch. Now, it’s (appeal) in CAS. We will, in the end, follow the CAS decision. But again, the international (wrestling) federation, they have to apply their interpretation, of their rules. This is their responsibility," said Bach during an IOC press conference in Paris.
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