PT Usha defends Dinshaw Pardiwala, holds Vinesh Phogat & support staff responsible for overweight

New Delhi: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha has defended chief medical officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala in the aftermath of wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification in the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling at the Paris Olympics 2024 because of overweight. The former Indian sprinter condemned hate directed towards the medical professional and said the athlete and her support staff are responsible for the fiasco.

As the country awaits the verdict of Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to award Vinesh as joint-silver medallist in her event, PT Usha has thrown the Indian grappler and her coaching staff under the bus after the 29-year-old reportedly was found 100-150 grams overweight from the permissible 50kg ahead of her gold medal match on August 7.

“The hate directed at the IOA medical team, especially Dr. Pardiwala, is unacceptable and worthy of condemnation. I hope that those rushing to judge the IOA medical team would consider all facts before arriving at any conclusions,” Usha said in a statement while defending the IOA medical staff, as reported by news agency PTI.

“…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,” the statement further read.

Further defining the roles of athlete’s personal support staff and IOA’s medical staff, Usha stressed that their team was focused on helping athletes recover from injuries and working with those in particular who lacked personal experts.

“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,” the 60-year-old 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,” she added.

Will Vinesh Phogat get a medal from Paris Olympics 2024?

The Paris Olympics 2024 concluded on Sunday following the closing ceremony of the extravaganza. However, the IOA appealed before the CAS, the highest international tribunal which resolves disputes related to sports. In her appeal, Vinesh asked to be awarded as the joint-silver medalist with Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzmán Lopez . The Indian’s argument is that she was under the permissible weight on August 6 when she reached the final after three wins in a row.

However, the rules of United Wrestling World (UWW) indicates that if a wrestler fails to meet the required weight before their competition then he/she is immediately disqualified and placed at the last spot.

The CAS verdict is expected to be delivered on Tuesday night (August 13). Vinesh was represented by renowned Indian advocates Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania. The hearing took place on August 9 for three hours. The verdict from CAS was initially expected to deliver on Saturday (August 10) but was later deferred after the completion of the Olympics.