Although it was a new kind of setback for the 29-year-old wrestler her struggle has been such since the Rio Olympics 2016
Vinesh Phogat was on the verge of scripting history as she was most likely to become the first Indian woman wrestler to have won a Gold medal in the history of the Olympics. However, the destiny had other plans. Vinesh got disqualified for merely a 100 gram of overweight ahead of her final event in the 50kg category of wrestling in Paris Olympics 2024. Later, she also announced her retirement from wrestling in an emotional post on social media.
Why was Vinesh Phogat Disqualified From the Final of the 50kg Wrestling Event at the Paris Olympics 2024? Is it justified to disqualify Vinesh Phogat for merely 100 grams more weight than the set category? These questions are surely not going to let Indians take a good nap tonight as India has lost the Gold medal too close. Losing a gold medal would have still been justified but losing a Gold medal without even playing for it and that too when you were all set to play, is the most painful heartbreak. This is exactly what happened! Indians just realized how heavy is merely a 100-gram weight.
Before we move further, let's give you a quick recap of what happened in the last 48 hours. On Tuesday morning, when Vinesh Phogat was all set to compete in the pre-quarterfinals, her weight was under 50kg i.e. 49.9Kg while her normal weight range was approximately 57kg. She worked a lot on herself to keep it down to 50 kg as it gave her an advantage to compete in a lower bout.
However, it becomes almost impossible to maintain the same weight on the next day because even a small meal can bounce back to at least 53kg. Vinesh Phogat fought 3 bouts yesterday — pre-quarterfinals (vs World No. 1 Japan's Yui Susaki), quarterfinals (vs Ukraine's Livach), and semi-finals (vs Cuba's Guzman) — and won all three of these.
To avoid dehydration, she was given a little bit of water which led to her weight gain. Her weight bounced back to 52.7kg after her semi-final bout. After winning the semi-finals, she did not consume water or even food besides, she didn't even sleep last night while the team ran a sauna all night and put in all efforts to cut down her weight under 50kg. The team managed to make it to 50.1kg in the morning on Day 2 when she was supposed to take on USA's wrestler in the final event.
However, there was no further time to cut down the weight further, and as a result, she failed the weigh-in and got disqualified. Roughly 100 grams! Usually, 100 grams doesn't feel too heavy but this is feeling like 100s of kilos weight on the shoulders of Indians who were expecting a Gold medal from Vinesh Phogat. Unfortunate! But it is what it is. Rules and Rules! You obey, you sail, you disobey, you drown! And clearly, the Indian ship in the women's freestyle 50kg event sank just in front of the seashore.
The Struggle Continues
Although it was a new kind of setback for the 29-year-old wrestler her struggle has been such since the Rio Olympics 2016. In 2016, Vinesh Phogat was forced to withdraw from her quarterfinal match against Chinese Sun Yanan following a knee injury in the match. Likewise, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Vinesh Phogat entered as the reigning world No. 1 wherein she met Belarus' wrestler Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the quarter-final match. Vanesa produced a massive upset over the top-seeded Indian as Vinesh went down fighting 3-9 in her quarter-final bout.
This was not it. It seems destiny wanted to test her more. Later in January 2023, Indian wrestlers started protesting for an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of female wrestlers by BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh during his tenure as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The protest turned into a violent clash between the police officials and the national wrestlers. The pictures that surfaced, back then, were very disappointing.
Now, in 2024, she entered the Paris Olympics, as a favorite but her destiny again, set up more struggles for her which led to one of the biggest heartbreaks of the decade.
(The views are those of the author)
