First things first. The verdict is now expected on 16 August 6 pm Paris time. So the wait continues for us all and most for Vinesh.
A lot has been said to me over the past few days on the Vinesh Phogat issue. Not everything can be written, and not everything is true either. Things get overhyped and it is essential that we filter information before we put it out in the public domain. One thing, however, is worth asking here: Was it all worth it? Should an athlete go through all that she did for that elusive medal? Is it fair?
When we associate the Olympic Games with ethics and justice and values, and then consider that athletes are willing to go to any extreme and do anything and everything to their bodies, we are left to question the very concept of fair play.
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BREAKING 🚨
Again the case has been extended 16 August 6pm Paris time.
@Phogat_Vinesh @BoriaMajumdar #VineshPhogat pic.twitter.com/D4gP8YKdaM
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) August 13, 2024
Should the human body be made to go through all this and is it ethical? Wrestling as a sport permits it, and as long as an athlete is able to make the weight, we aren’t really bothered about what goes on backstage. So what if someone has starved for 48 hours? So what if another hasn’t hydrated for 36 hours? So what if one runs the risk of hypovolemic shock after doing that to the body?
Someone who follows wrestling closely even said to me that in akharas, people have even cut off a finger to lose weight. While I don’t know if such things are true, the thought is repulsive. Such ideas expose the rotten underbelly of sport, which is so very different from what the Olympic Games stand for.
While I am in solidarity with Vinesh, and think that she truly deserves the medal, I also think that her case could be part of a larger crusade for reform. The sport itself can get better because of Vinesh’s protest and that could make her a cult hero, far more than a mere silver medallist in Paris.
If rules are amended because of her, it will be a major step forward. It will mean future wrestlers don’t really have to do things to their body which are normally considered inhuman. Neeraj Chopra put it well to me the other day at Omega House. “When we eat and drink, it is so hard to see the wrestlers and boxers starving themselves,” he said. “It is a very tough sport and people need to know that.”
While rules are rules and are applicable to everyone, it goes without saying that nothing is more important than the health of the body. Because of doping, we have lost many an athlete in the past. People have died early because their bodies were injected with harmful substances. Such attempts at performance enhancement are considered deplorable. By extension, what these wrestlers or boxers do to their bodies is also inhuman. Whatever it is, it is not sport. Such actions certainly don’t go hand in hand with the Olympic spirit, and cannot be justified at any cost.
While we wait for the verdict, let me state one thing loud and clear. I will be thrilled for Vinesh if she does get the medal, for I have stood by her the last few years and know what she has gone through to get this far. Having said that, I will not be unhappy if this fight for justice results in systemic change. If Vinesh can change established norms and make the sport better, her contributions will be far more significant than winning a medal. Such an outcome would be most welcome.
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