Vinesh Phogat reveals she got no support from Indian Olympic Association after getting disqualified from gold medal bout at Paris Olympics 2024

Hyderabad: In a huge revelation, former Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has said that she never got any support from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) during her tumultuous situation at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman to qualify for the gold medal bout but was disqualified from the final after she was found to be 100 grams more than her prescribed and allowed weight.

Vinesh appealed against her disqualification at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) asking the CAS to award her a joint-silver medal as her passage to the final was under no doubt.

However, the CAS ruling came against her favour and it upheld the organisers decision to disqualify Vinesh saying they had followed the rule book.

The Haryana-based wrestler tried desperate measures, including cutting her hair to be within the allowed weight, but failed in the end to end up 100 grams more than what was allowed.

She was hospitalised in Paris after the ordeal and the IOA president PT Usha visited the wrestler in the hospital and assured her of all support. A photo was also released by the IOA showing Usha and Vinesh in the hospital.

However, in a recent interview with AAA media, Vinesh has accused Usha and the IOA of not offering any support and even added that there was a lot of politics involved. “I don’t know what support I got there. PT Usha madam visited me at the hospital. One photo was clicked. In politics a lot happens behind closed doors. Similarly, politics happened there (in Paris) as well. That’s why I was heartbroken. For what should I continue (playing the sport)? There is politics everywhere,” Phogat said in a clip that was uploaded on social media.

Vinesh added that Usha had clicked a photo without her knowledge and affirmed that there was no support from the IOA. “You are on a hospital bed, where you don’t know what’s happening in life outside, you are going through one of the worst phases of your life. At that place, just to show everyone you are standing with me, you clicked a photo without telling me and then put it on social media to say you are standing with me. That is not how you show support. What was it more than just posing?” Vinesh questioned.

The Haryana-based wrestler added that she got the support from the government only after filing a case. “I filed my case on my own. Harish Salve sir (her lawyer arguing the case) joined the next day. The lawyers who were in Paris filed that case on my behalf. It was not done from the Government of India, they acted as a third party. I was there to represent India there, hence it was their duty to file it,” she added.

However, after Usha met Vinesh in the hospital in Paris, the IOA released a video message from the IOA chief that said that she met Vinesh and assured her of all the support. “Vinesh’s disqualification is very shocking. I met Vinesh at the Olympic village polyclinic a short while ago and assured her 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. I am aware of the relentless effort made by Vinesh’s medical team throughout the night so that she could meet the competition requirements,” Usha had then said in a video message.

After the Paris Olympics saga, Vinesh announced her retirement from wrestling and joined the Indian National Congress party to contest the elections in Haryana.