BHUBANESWAR: Former wrestler and commonwealth gold medallist Vinesh Phogat deserved a spot in 53 kg category but was compelled to compete in a different weight category, said author and journalist Sohini Chattopadhyay on Saturday.
Speaking at the 12th edition of Odisha Literary Festival-2024 here, Chattopadhyay said Vinesh was suitable for 53 weight category and not the 50 category. “She missed one of the competitions because of a surgery but she had every right to be considered for the 53 kg weight category.”
Author of ‘The Day I Became a Runner: A Women’s History of India Through the Lens of Sport’, Chattopadhyay said Antim Panghal, who participated in Vinesh’s original weight category at Paris Olympics, got it fairly. But Vinesh, being a Commonwealth Games medallist, also deserved to be in that category.
“I could look at Vinesh’s sad defeat in the light of the wrestlers’ protest. It was the events of last year that led to her opting for the 50 kg category,” she pointed out.
Chattopadhyay, however, clarified that she has nothing to comment on the Olympic rules as it is there for all. “People’s views are divided over the issue and some consider the Olympic rules for women are unfair, but rules are rules,” she said.
In her conversation with journalist Kaveree Bamzai on ‘Women and Sports, Running for My Life’, Chattopadhyay said both sports and nationalism are inherently related.
She highlighted the struggles of famous athletes and sports personalities including Mary D’Souza, Kamaljeet Sandhu, PT Usha and others and said, “Indian sports establishment has a way of diminishing sports people.”
The author said she tried to map women’s history through the lens of sports which gives women the legitimacy to cross the threshold between the private sphere of home and the public sphere of the outside world.