Paris Olympics: Vinesh Phogat disqualified; may appeal decision
Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman wrestler to enter Olympic finals, beating Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez 5-0
Paris: Vinesh Phogat, who confirmed a medal for India on Tuesday night by reaching the final, was disqualified from the Paris Olympics after weighing a few grams over her 50kg weight division in Wednesday’s morning weigh-in.
She will lose her confirmed medal, for which she was to fight for gold on Wednesday. It is understood that she was 100 grams over the permissible weight when she arrived for the morning weigh-in. Phogat was within the required weight on Tuesday, the first day of her bouts at these Olympics.
“It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class,” the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said in a statement. “Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning. No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time.”
In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Phogat a champion among champions and said come back stronger. “You are India’s pride and an inspiration for each and every Indian. Today’s setback hurts. I wish words could express the sense of despair that I am experiencing. At the same time, I know that you epitomise resilience. It has always been your nature to take challenges head on,” he wrote. “We are all rooting for you.”
As per the rules, if an athlete fails at the weight-in (first or second), they “will be eliminated from the competition and ranked last”. Officials of the IOA contingent and medical team here and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) tried to seek a bit more time and plead for their case but to no avail.
“We tried everything; asking them for a little more time or asking if there was any other way. But they said they have to abide by the rules. They are very strict about it,” said WFI secretary Sanjay Singh, who is in Paris.
It is learnt that after Phogat’s bouts on Tuesday—she fought three of them and beat the favourite Yui Susaki in the first round—she was overweight by a couple of kilograms by night. Phogat chose to drop down to compete in the 50kg category for this Olympics and her natural weight is around 55kg. The Indian wrestler was up all night trying to trim the extra kilos through several means but to no avail.
“She worked through the entire night for it,” Singh said. “Yes, she has been disqualified. She weighed 100 grams over her weight in the morning weight in,” India’s national coach Virendra Singh Dahiya said.