In a shocking turn of events, Vinesh Phogat was on Wednesday disqualified from the Olympics after being found overweight ahead of her women’s 50kg final here.
Vinesh had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in the event on Tuesday night.
“She was found overweight by 100gm this morning. The rules do not allow this and she has been disqualified,” said an Indian coach.
The Indian Olympic Association later confirmed the development and requested privacy for the wrestler, who was competing in her third Olympics.
“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,” the IOA stated.
“No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you to respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand,” it added.
She had taken down defending champion Yui Susaki en route the finals on Tuesday.
In recent years Phogat was fighting on two fronts: on the mat and off it. Her battles off the mat were in fact more challenging than the ones she grew up handling in her village in Balali.
But, in a way, those off-field battles prepared her better to tackle her rivals in the competition. Once in Paris, as luck would have it, she was pitted against Japanese wrestler Yui Susaki who had never lost a bout in her international career and is a four-time world Olympic champion.
But Vinesh, drawing from her struggles off the mat and using a perfect game plan, stunned the reigning Olympic champion in one of wrestling’s biggest upsets.
