• durgesh dubey
• 07 Aug, 2024

vinesh phogat

Indian Wrestler Vinesh Phogat disqualified from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg for being overweight. It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class.

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. The Indian team requests respect for Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand, says Indian Olympic Association.

With this news, the Indian wrestler is likely to miss out on a medal at the Paris Olympics after being found overweight in the 50 kg category on the second day of competition. In a heartbreaking twist, Phogat, who was set to compete in the 50 kg gold medal bout, is facing disqualification for being approximately 100 grams over the permissible limit.

Sources indicate that due to this excess weight, Phogat will not be eligible for a medal, even silver, with the 50 kg category awarding only gold and bronze medals. An official announcement is expected later today. While Phogat made weight for Tuesday’s bouts, the rules require wrestlers to remain within their weight category on both days of competition.

This isn't the first time Phogat has struggled with the weight requirement in the 50 kg category, which is lower than her usual 53 kg class. She faced a similar challenge during the Olympic qualifiers, narrowly making the cut.

On Tuesday, Phogat made history as the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the Olympic final. She achieved this by defeating world number 1 Yui Susaki of Japan and securing two more impressive victories against wrestlers from Ukraine and Cuba. 

On Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from #ParisOlympics2024, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor says, "Vinesh's triumph up to this point has been hugely impressive. She has shown courage, ability and a tremendous amount of determination...For me, she has won our hearts. I am very disappointed with this news about her technical disqualification. I don't know how such a thing could have happened, whether our coaches were found wanting in terms of ensuring all the rights rules and limits to adhere to. To me, the sad thing is that all her efforts did not get the reward that she deserved..."