Paris (France): Indian grappler Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the Paris 2024 Olympics as a result of weighing a few grams over 50 kg on Wednesday morning. The Indian wrestler exceeded the permissible limit and has been disqualified as a result. She was found ineligible to compete during the weigh-in on the day of the final.
"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 you respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand," the Indian Olympic Association said in an official statement.
Vinesh was approximately 2 Kilos overweight on Tuesday night but she made all the efforts to reduce it to the desired weight category. The Indian grappler didn't sleep the whole night and also put in hard yards to be eligible by the time of the weigh-in. Vinesh tried jogging as well as cycling but was unable to match the criteria by Wednesday morning. The Indian delegation also asked for some more time so that Vinesh could shed her extra 100 grams but all of it went in vain.
As a result of the disqualification, Vinesh will be now ineligible to get any medal and her category will have only gold and silver medal winners. The Indian wrestler was scheduled to fight against Sarah Hildebrandt of USA in the final to bag a gold medal.
Vinesh's run in the Paris games was prolific so far as she beat World No. 1 Yui Susaki on her way to becoming the first wrestler to beat her in any international games. The Indian grappler was hailed by many in the sports fraternity as she had defied all the odds to make it into the final of the event. The nation was looking at her with the hope of a medal but the 29-year-old's disqualification has crushed those hopes.
