Vinesh Phogat Says This On Support Staff, Who Were Called 'Tourists' And Faced Backlash After Olympic Heartbreak

After Vinesh Phogat got disqualified from the Olympics 2024 50kg wrestling final for being 100 gram overweight, several athletes, officials and other blamed her coaches, phyios and trainers for not being able to manage her weight. In fact, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh raised questions on the presence of Vinesh's personal coach and support staff, wondering what they were doing in Paris. “The player is fully concentrated on her practice which is why it would be unfair to blame her for this. Why is the support staff sent with the athlete, and the government sends them along with the player, ‘Wo sab wahan tafri karne gaye hai kya (have they gone there for tourism)?' Sanjay Singh said.

"An athlete who has won three of her bouts has to concentrate on her game, the staff is supposed to keep all other details in check,” Sanjay Singh told IANS in an exclusive interview.

However, in her first response since she got disqualified on August 7, Vinesh Phogat on Friday thanked members of her support staff Dr Wayne Patrick Lombard, coach Woller Akos and physiotherapist Ashwini Jeevan Patil along with Indian Olympic Association (IOA)'s CMO, besides Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, after her Paris Olympics campaign ended in a heartbreak. 

Vinesh was disqualified from the 50kg category women's freestyle final for being 100 gm overweight in the second weigh-in on the morning of the summit clash. However, she challenged the verdict in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but things did not come out in her favour.

Amid the criticism of her support staff for failing to cut down her weight for the final match, the 29-year-old detailed their contribution to her life and thanked them for their unwavering support in her