'Do you apply such deliberations?': IOA Prez Thomas Bach Dodges Tough Questions on Vinesh Phogat

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach on Friday finally addressed Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from Paris Olympics. Bach made it known that has a "certain understanding" for Vinesh Phogat, who has challenged her disqualification from Olympic finals in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but also wondered where would one draw the line after allowing small concessions in certain situations.

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IOA President Thomas Bach Fails To Clear The Air On Vinesh Phogat's Disqualification

Vinesh Phogat was disqualified for being 100gm overweight ahead of her her gold medal bout in 50kg freestyle wrestling on Wednesday. She then appealed against her disqualification to CAS, demanding that she be awarded a joint silver medal before eventually announcing her retirement from the sport.

"I must say, I have a certain understanding for the wrestler; it's clearly a human touch," said Bach, during an IOC media conference here.

"Now, it's (appeal) in CAS. We will, at the end, follow the CAS decision. But, again, the international (wrestling) federation, they have to apply their interpretation, their rules. This is their responsibility," he added.
Asked if two silver medals could be awarded in a weight category, Bach said, "No, if you ask in such a general way. But allow me to comment on this individual case.

"There the regulations of the international federation have to be followed and the international federation, United World Wrestling (UWW), was taking this decision." Bach said a 100gm overweight may not sound much to a layman but asked would such a relaxation would apply to a track event where results are sometimes decided by one thousandth of a second.

"Looking at the federation or anybody to take such a decision, when and where do you make the cut? Do you say with 100gms, we give it but with 102(gms), we don't give it anymore? "What do you do then in sports where you have differences of one-thousandths of a second (in track events). Do you also then apply such deliberations?," he added.
Vinesh and her support staff took every possible measure to bring her weight within the prescribed limit.

The desperate tricks included cutting her hair, keeping her completely off food or liquids and spending an entire night working out to shed the extra weight.

She ended up being on an IV drip at the Games Village polyclinic due to the dehydration caused by the extreme measures.

While announcing her retirement, Vinesh stated that she does not have the strength left to continue any further. 

(With inputs from PTI)