“Athletes should compete in their natural weight, wrestlers losing too much weight and it’s not good: United World Wrestling president denies exception for Vinesh Phogat, says ‘rules are rules’”, Opindia, August 7, 2024:
“United World Wrestling (UWW) President Nenad Lalovic today ruled out any exception for wrestler Vinesh Phogat who was disqualified from the Paris Olympics just before her final match for being overweight by just 100 grams. He said that although the disappointment is understandable, the rules are rules and there is no scope for exception.
“We have to respect the rules. I’m so sad what happened to her. She was overweight, even though by a small margin but rules are rules. The weigh-in is public and all the athletes are there. It’s impossible to let someone to compete who doesn’t make the weight,” Lalovic said while talking to Sportstar.
On the question of whether Vinesh could be awarded the silver medal because she passed the weight test on the first day of the competition, the UWW chief replied in negative. He said, “It is impossible because the brackets are changing. Everything is changing. And anyway, the rules are rules. Everybody who goes to these competitions knows they have a second weigh-in the next day…….”
Read the full article at Opindia.com
