Chief Medical Officer Explains Vinesh Phogat's Disqualification

By A Staff Reporter

Paris: Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian contingent, provided an explanation regarding the disqualification of wrestler Vinesh Phogat from the Olympics, emphasizing the efforts made to meet the weight requirements and the health measures taken afterward.

"Her post-participation weight at the end of the semi-finals in the evening was found to be 2.7 kg more than the allowed weight. The team and the coach started off their usual process, which is, of course, the limitation of water and no food. And we started with the whole process of sweating it out. Typically, you require some amount of time for that. But unfortunately, we didn't have too much time. We had just 12 hours," said Dr. Pardiwala.

Detailing the measures taken, he added, "The entire team worked throughout the night trying to reduce her weight, putting her in a steam and sauna, making her exercise, and doing whatever was medically possible. We tried our best to get that weight down. When she couldn't sweat anymore, we even had to go to some drastic measures like cutting off her hair."

Dr. Pardiwala expressed regret about the limited time available, "If we maybe had a few hours more, we could have achieved that 100 grams, but we just didn't have that time."

Following the disqualification, the priority shifted to Vinesh's health. "Once she was disqualified, we needed to rehydrate her as a precautionary measure, and the best way to rehydrate an athlete is by giving intravenous fluids. So we gave her a few intravenous fluids, and she started eating and drinking. She is perfectly normal physically and medically. We've got her blood tests done just as a precautionary measure," he concluded.