Don't have strength for more: Vinesh bids adieu to wrestling
Paris (PTI): Her long-cherished Olympic dream shattered by a cruel twist of fate, Vinesh Phogat on Thursday bid adieu to her international wrestling career, saying she doesn't have the strength to continue anymore.
The 29-year-old, who was disqualified for being 100gm overweight ahead of her 50kg category gold medal bout in the olympics on Wednesday, announced her decision on social media, seeking forgiveness from everyone who supported her.
Addressing her mother Premlata, Vinesh wrote, "Ma, wrestling has won, I have lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my courage, everything is broken."
"I don't have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I shall be indebted to you all. Forgive (me)," added the two-time world championships bronze-medallist.
Her stunning decision comes a day after Vinesh appealed against her disqualification from the Olympic finals on Wednesday in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), demanding that she be awarded a joint silver medal.
An ad-hoc division of the CAS, which has been set up here for resolution of any disputes arising during the Olympic Games or during a period of 10 days preceding the Opening Ceremony, will take up her appeal in the next few hours.
She spent a good part of the day at a polyclinic inside the Games village owing to severe dehydration caused by her desperate measures to make the cut, which included going hungry, avoiding fluids and staying up all night to sweat it out.
Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to Vinesh in the semifinals, replaced her in the final against American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt.
Hildebrandt won the bout to claim gold and Vinesh is now banking on CAS to be a joint silver-medallist with Lopez.
However, the sport's international governing body, United World Wrestling (UWW) has made it clear on its part that the current weigh-in rule will not be changed as of now.
"On IOA’s suggestion that a wrestler's results from the day on which the athlete met the weigh-in requirements should not be disqualified, the UWW President was sympathetic.
"UWW will also discuss the suggestion at an appropriate platform but it could not be done retrospectively," the world body said in a statement late on Wednesday after its President Nenad Lalovic met IOA chief P T Usha.
Vinesh had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in her category on Tuesday night.
She was assured of at least a silver medal before the disqualification.
Vinesh is a three-time Olympian and has won gold medals in both the Asian and Commonwealth Games.
For the past one year, she had also been the face of fierce protests against former Wrestling Federation of India head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by women grapplers.
Vinesh, who has always competed in the 53kg category, was forced to come down to 50kg just months before the Games after the Paris quota place in that division was locked by Antim Panghal.
Panghal lost in the opening round itself and is facing deportation after trying to facilitate her sister Nisha's access to the Games Village on her accreditation card.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
