Vinesh Phogat of Crew India (in pink) defeated a trio of present or former champions on Tuesday — however after failing to make weight for her 50-kilogram bout on Wednesday, she was disqualified from the gold medal match on the Paris Olympics. She’s seen right here after her win over Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Crew Cuba in Paris.
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Vinesh Phogat’s dream of successful India’s first gold medal on the Paris Olympics led to what for wrestlers is a nightmare situation: She did not make weight for the ladies’s 50-kilogram class closing. After initially successful an opportunity for a gold or silver medal, her disqualification means she is going to go away France with out a medal of any kind.
Phogat was discovered to be 100 grams over the restrict — about 3.5 ounces, much like a deck of playing cards — in response to the Indian Olympic Affiliation. After having three bouts on Tuesday, her weight was discovered to have elevated a bit greater than regular, the affiliation’s chief medical officer, Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, mentioned on Wednesday.
Phogat had a profitable weigh-in on Tuesday morning, Pardiwala mentioned, and her nutritionist calculated that she may have round 1 1/2 kilograms of water and meals. She additionally drank small quantities of water after her matches.
However when employees checked her weight, it was over the restrict. The athlete’s regular methods for reducing weight weren’t profitable, Pardiwala mentioned.
“We had tried all possible drastic measures throughout the night, including cutting off her hair, shortening her clothes,” Pardiwala mentioned. However to no avail.
It was a merciless solution to finish what had appeared to be a charmed run to the gold medal match, as Phogat delivered a string of victories over extremely ranked opponents. After two heartbreaking Olympics — a horrible knee harm ended her Rio 2016 marketing campaign, and a surprising upset ousted her in Tokyo — she was lastly on observe to win the medal many have seen as her future.
Her disqualification “is very shocking,” mentioned Indian Olympic Affiliation President PT Usha, who met with Phogat within the Olympic Village on Wednesday.
“We are providing Vinesh all medical and emotional support,” Usha mentioned, including that India’s wrestling federation has filed an attraction asking that the disqualification be reconsidered.
An Olympic medal would have been one thing of a salve to a 12 months of turmoil in India’s wrestling group. Final summer time, Phogat took on a outstanding position in high-profile protests in opposition to sexual harassment, as she and different high wrestlers referred to as for motion in opposition to then-Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Singh, an influential politician who was additionally as soon as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Vinesh Phogat (middle) and different elite Indian wrestlers had been detained by the police in New Delhi final 12 months as they protested in opposition to Brij Bhushan Singh, who was then the wrestling federation chief, over allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation.
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Arun Thakur/AFP through Getty Photographs
As NPR reported final 12 months, Singh was “accused by the country’s seven most high-profile wrestlers, including a minor, of groping them, stalking them, demanding sexual favors and threatening them if they refuse to entertain his advances.”
Singh has denied the allegations. Within the New Delhi protests in opposition to him, Phogat and different elite athletes had been confronted by police who dragged them away and detained them.
After Wednesday’s abrupt elimination derailed Phogat’s probability for an Olympic medal, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned through X, “Vinesh, you are a champion among champions! You are India’s pride and an inspiration for each and every Indian.”
Vinesh, you’re a champion amongst champions! You might be India’s satisfaction and an inspiration for each Indian.
Right this moment’s setback hurts. I want phrases may categorical the sense of despair that I’m experiencing.
On the similar time, I do know that you simply epitomise resilience. It has all the time…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 7, 2024
Acknowledging a “sense of despair” over the result, Modi added, “At the same time, I know that you epitomise resilience. It has always been your nature to take challenges head on.”
On the Paris Video games, Phogat defeated a roster of champions in a single day to earn a spot in opposition to Crew USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt in Wednesday’s closing. In her first match, she upset the reigning Olympic champion, Yui Susaki of Japan. She then beat former European champion Oksana Livach of Ukraine within the quarterfinals and Pan American Video games champion Yusneylis Guzman of Cuba within the semifinals.
Due to Phogat’s disqualification, Guzman was elevated to the ultimate to face Hildebrandt.
Phogat comes from a household well-known for its feminine wrestlers: her cousins’ story impressed the Bollywood movie Dangal, from Walt Disney’s India subsidiary. She has additionally spoken out in favor of empowering ladies and giving them extra assist to pursue sports activities.
She advised The Hindu information outlet in 2018, “most importantly, girls need to stand up for what they want to do. It’s not just about sports — even otherwise, in education or in life, girls need to stop feeling pity for themselves or considering themselves weak. You have to have the strength of belief in yourself. The first step has to be taken by a girl herself; everything else follows.”
When she’s injury-free, Phogat racked up wins on the mat from an early age. She took bronze on the world championships and high titles on the Commonwealth Video games and the Asian championships. Her outcomes, typically in weight classes a bit heavier than 50kg, have lengthy fueled hopes for Olympic greatness that, due to round 100 grams, now stay unfulfilled.
