Finalist Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified, Heart breaking news has come out for India. Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics 2024. This comes after Vinesh Phogat was found to be a few grams overweight ahead of her wrestling final against USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt in the 50kg freestyle event. Vinesh was within the weight criteria before the qualifiers and semi-final rounds. However, she was found to be a few grams overweight before the final and hence she was disqualified before the final and will not be eligible for the silver medal.
What are the weight rules for Olympic wrestling?
Changes in the names sent by any wrestling association are possible only if an athlete suffers a serious injury, but for that a medical certificate has to be given to that wrestling association. Also it is possible to do this at least 12 hours before the day of competition in the respective weight category. There can be no change after this.
No further changes will be accepted after this time. For all competitions, weights are measured each morning for the respective weight-category. The weighing program and medical check-up lasts for 30 minutes. Usually wrestling matches end in two days. In such a situation, the next day only those wrestlers who are either in the repechage or have reached the finals come to get their weight measured. The next day the weight measurement program lasts for about 15 minutes.
No weight tolerance will be allowed for singlet. Contestants must be in perfect physical condition, with their nails cut very short. During the entire weighing period, wrestlers have the right; each in turn, to have their weight measured as many times as they wish.
Referees will refuse to weigh a wrestler who is not wearing the correct clothing. The referee responsible for the weigh-in will receive the results of the draw and will be allowed to control only those athletes who are on this list.
#WATCH | On Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification, President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) PT Usha says, “We are doing our best. I am going to meet the World Wrestling Federation President also…”#ParisOlympics2024 pic.twitter.com/Ds9104gBde
— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2024
If an athlete does not participate or fails in the weighing program (both days), he/she will be eliminated from the competition. No rank will be given to that athlete. If an athlete is injured during his/her competition on the first day, he/she will not be required to be present for weighing on the second day and his/her rank will continue. For example, if Vinesh got injured after playing all three matches yesterday, she would not have to be present during the weighing today and if she had not reached the finals, she would have got the silver medal.
In this unfortunate incident, Vinesh was inside the weight category on the first day i.e. on 6th August. The 29-year-old athlete had passed his first day’s weighing routine with flying colours. After this, he also defeated Tokyo 2020 top seed and gold medalist Susaki. Vinesh defeated former European champion Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the quarter-finals and current Pan American champion Yusnelis Guzman of Cuba in the semi-finals.
Since last year, Vinesh Phogat has fought not only for her career but also for her life. She was one of the protesters against the former Indian Wrestling Federation chief and became India’s biggest hope to win its first gold medal in wrestling at the Olympics. Vinesh also had to undergo surgery last year and then made a tremendous comeback. Due to this surgery, she could not even play in the Asian Games.
However, to achieve the Olympic berth, she had to reduce his weight to 50 kg. He had contested his last Olympics in the 53 kg category. Since Panghal was the last to qualify for this category, Vinesh had to reduce her weight by 50 kg. It is believed he took electrolytes and other supplements to regain his energy after fighting three grueling matches in a single day, which can lead to weight gain.