Vinesh Phogat’s unhappy bout at Olympics continues in Paris, with medal dream shattered by a margin

Vinesh Phogat Disqualification: Vinesh Phogat's heartbreaking journey at the Paris Olympics, from weight struggles to injury battles, ends in disappointment.

Vinesh Phogat’s dream run at the Paris Olympics came to a morale-shattering halt after she failed to meet the weight requirement for her women’s 50kg wrestling gold medal bout. She also lost out on a confirmed silver medal.

The 29-year-old was a little over 100 grams above the 50kg weight limit during this morning’s weigh-in at 7.15am local time. Vinesh weighed 49.9kg on Tuesday morning ahead of her first-round bout, well within the permissible limit. She, however, gained weight during the day as she secured three back-to-back wins, including one over defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki, to reach the final.

After the end of her semifinal win over Cuba’s Yuznelys Guzman, her weight was around 52.7kg.

The athlete, her coaches, and her support staff spent a sleepless night without food or water to make the cut. When everything failed, they resorted to extreme measures such as cutting her hair and attempting to draw out blood, but their efforts did not yield the desired results.

Vinesh had wrestled at her first Olympics in the 48kg category in Rio. She was 22 then. As she grew older, it became harder to maintain that weight. She then moved up to the 50kg category and then the 53kg category at the time of the Tokyo Olympics. Even at 53kg, she was losing a lot of weight to compete. The weight loss resulted in poor recovery and frequent injuries. Her injury also coincided with the rise of another Indian wrestler Antim Panghal. As Vinesh lay bedridden, Antim won a bronze in the women’s 53kg category and earned a quota for the Paris Olympics. Vinesh had no option but to drop down to the 50kg category — the lightest in women’s wrestling.

The Olympics — the highlight of an athlete’s career — have never left happy memories for Vinesh.

In 2016, her campaign was cut short when she was badly injured in the quarterfinals. Five years later in Tokyo, she had prepared well but the stresses of the weight cut left her with a neurological ailment that left her dazed and confused on the mat, unable even to see what was in front of her during her second-round match. Another early exit followed.