Paris: Vinesh Phogat’s Paris Olympics fate is set to be known on Tuesday when the ad hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will issue a decision on the Indian wrestler’s disqualification from the Games after the weigh-in for her 50kg final bout and her appeal for a shared silver medal.

The 2024 Paris Games are officially over but the case, and Vinesh’s tryst with destiny, continues to drag on. The sole arbitrator in the case, Australia’s Dr. Annabelle Bennett, was supposed to arrive at a decision by the end of the Games — the closing ceremony was on Sunday evening — but has sought more time after the hearing took place on Friday. The CAS granted it, saying the time limit can be extended “in exceptional circumstances”. While the crux of the verdict is likely to be made on Tuesday, the reasoned order will be issued at a later date.

Vinesh has taken the United World Wrestling (UWW) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) to court for wiping out the results of her first three bouts before being overweight for the weigh-in on the morning of her final. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is also part of the case as an interested party, but has now been left to defend itself in this saga.

In a statement issued on Sunday just before the closing ceremony, IOA president PT Usha slammed the “unacceptable” criticism and “hate” directed towards Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, IOA’s Chief Medical Officer for these Games, in the entire sequence of events that led to Vinesh missing her weight by 100 grams.

Usha clarified “that the responsibility of weight management of athletes in sports like wrestling, weightlifting, boxing and judo is that of each athlete and his or her coach”, the IOA statement read, and not the IOA or Dr. Pardiwala and his team.

“Dr. Usha said that each Indian athlete in the Paris Olympic 2024 Games in such sport had his or her own support team. These support teams have been working with the athletes over so many years,” the statement added.

Vinesh had brought her own coaching team and support staff to the Olympics, who were the closest points of contact with the wrestler. The wrestling contingent’s national coach Virender Dahiya had said he left Vinesh to be with the other wrestlers around midnight.

Dr. Pardiwala swung into action when the matter was brought to his attention, and said on the day of Vinesh’s disqualification that her team “felt confident” that the weight cut could be achieved. He added that they then “tried all possible drastic measures throughout the night”, but it fell short.

Dr. Pardiwala brought up the distance between the wrestling venue at the Champ-de-Mars Arena and the Athletes’ Village, about an hour’s drive “by the transport system provided by the Olympic organisers”, as one of the challenges. It’s also one of the arguments put in front by the Indian side, for which senior advocates Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania had assisted during Friday’s hearing, as the reason of her getting delayed in the weight cut process. The other argument is the almost negligible quantity of 100 grams. For that, IOC president Thomas Bach and UWW head Nenad Lalovic have echoed similar views that if the line is pushed for 100 grams, where would it stop.

An argument also is that if the UWW allows for leeway in meeting weight requirements at the weigh-in in other international tournaments organised by it, doing so at the Olympics would not be that unprecedented, especially for the second day. Various coaches have expressed concern about women having to shed weight twice in such events, seeking relaxation in rules in terms of allowances for the second day. Lalovic, during a meeting with IOA and Wrestling Federation of India officials here last week, said they will have a relook at the rules and tweak them if need be. But, they could not do it retrospectively.

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