With Vinesh Phogat disqualified from the women’s 50kg final at the Paris Olympics, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh has raised questions about the presence of her personal coach and support staff. She wonders what they are doing in Paris. With Vinesh disqualified from the final, the entire country is wondering how a mistake of this magnitude can be made on such a big stage.
On Wednesday, the WFI president directed these questions to Vinesh's coach, dietician and physiotherapist, saying they should be held responsible for the embarrassing situation. “The player is fully focused on her training, therefore it would be unfair to blame her for this. Why is the support staff being sent with the athlete, and the government is sending them with the player,”Wo sab wahan tafri karne gaye hai kya (did they go there for tourism)?' asked Sanjay Singh.
“An athlete who has won three of her matches has to concentrate on her game, the staff has to keep an eye on all other details,” Sanjay Singh told IANS in an exclusive interview.
Vinesh was disqualified after failing her final weight check, which found her to be 100 grams overweight, despite her valiant efforts to lose the 2.7 kilos she lost on Tuesday.
Despite being under the required weight limit on Tuesday, Phogat had to make up for her weight after her three strenuous efforts that saw her go over the weight limit. She spent the night trying to lose weight below 50kg and was seen jumping, cycling and jogging in her best attempt to make it but ultimately couldn’t make it.
The team doing incredible work behind the scenes with @Phogat_Vinesh
(Standing L-R) Coach Woller Akos, Sports Scientist @waynelombardPhysio Ashwini, S&C Mayank, I
Seated – Vinesh with her 3 sparring partners.
Go for Vinesh. Keep fighting@OGQ_India photo.twitter.com/IgV0lInZB7
— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) August 6, 2024
Elaborating further on the implications of such a lapse, Sanjay Singh claimed that the WFI plans to ban players from bringing their own staff and only coaches, physiotherapists and nutritionists who qualify through WFI courses will be allowed to travel with the team.
“When we return from Paris, the entire WFI community will do its best to implement the rule that only the nutritionists and physiotherapists eligible for our courses will be sent with the team and no one else will be allowed to participate,” he added.
“A total of 140 crore Indians have had their hearts broken. About her weight gain, her personal coach, dietician and physiotherapist were with her and only they can tell what happened. She would have 100% definitely won the gold medal the way she had prepared, so the question should be asked to her coach,” he concluded.
Incidentally, the WFI has tried to control the involvement of wrestlers’ personal coaches when they represented the country, but to no avail. They have had to succumb to star power at every turn, often at the expense of key support staff.
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