Mother, wrestling won against me, I lost. Your dreams and my courage are broken. I don’t have the strength to go on anymore. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I will forever be indebted to all of you. Please forgive me.
Addressing her mother Premlata, Vinesh Phogat published these heartbreaking words on her X account to announce her retirement from wrestling. Vinesh Phogat is one of the most celebrated Indian wrestlers. She was a three-time Olympian, a two-time World Championships bronze medallist, a three-time Commonwealth Games champion and a gold medallist at the Asian Games and Asian Championships.
In the Paris Olympics 2024, on Tuesday, 6 August 2024, she reached the final of the Women’s 50 kg weight category after defeating defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan, former European champion Oksana Livach of Ukraine, and reigning pan-American champion Yusneylis Guzman of Cuba.
She was to become the first Indian woman to compete in a wrestling final at the Olympics. But she was disqualified from the game as she failed to make the weight on the morning of the gold medal bout against Sarah Hilderbrandt of the USA. The excess weight that led to her disqualification was 100 gm.
How did Vinesh Phogat, who weighed 49.9 Kg on the morning of Tuesday, 6 August 2024, put on 2.7 kg by the night of 50 kg wrestling bouts, especially after participating in three gruelling wrestling bouts of three minutes each?
Gaining weight during wrestling bouts is not unusual. It is widely accepted that most wrestlers compete in weight categories below their weight to gain strength advantage.
Vinesh Phogat’s body weight is 56 kg. But she preferred the 53 Kg category for most of her career. She chose to weigh in for the 50 kg and 53 kg categories — due to uncertainty about her path to the Olympics — and triumphed in the 50 kg trials and secured a top-four finish in the 53 kg trials.
The uncertainty was because her wrestling career came under pressure, especially after she led protests against the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Furthermore, a knee ligament injury made her appearance in the Olympics uncertain.
In the meantime, another wrestling champion, Antim Panghal, secured a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships, earning a quota for India in the Paris Olympics 53 Kg category. According to previous WFI rules, the person who wins the quota automatically gets to represent India at the Olympics. This development left Phogat in a precarious position.
The ad-hoc committee assured Vinesh Phogat that there would be a trial for the 53 kg category. However, the situation grew increasingly uncertain, with the WFI set to regain control and Sanjay Singh poised to become its new president. Ergo, Vinesh Phogat reduced her weight to 50 kg to get an Olympic quota in Paris, and the 53 Kg went to Antim Panghal.
Wrestlers follow a very strict regime. They often go with very little food and water and resort to excessive exercise and sauna to lose weight. “The process of weight cut involves a calculated restriction of food and water along with sweating from exercises and sauna till the morning weigh-in. This weight cut causes weakness and energy depletion, which is counter-productive to participation,” said the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala.
Vinesh Phogat was allowed some water, a light meal and some nutritional supplements to ensure she had enough strength and energy to last the wrestling bouts. Vinesh Phogat’s nutritionist expected a weight increase of 1.5kg. Unfortunately, it was 2.7kg.
A worried Vinesh Phogat took drastic measures to reduce weight. She cut her hair and tried to take blood out. But it did not work. Ultimately, Vinesh was found 100gm overweight in the weigh-in on the morning of her gold medal bout, resulting in her disqualification.
The disqualification utterly saddens not only Vinesh Phogat but also 1.4 billion Indians. Yet, just after she was disqualified, India’s sports minister stood in Parliament and quoted the exact amount of money they had spent on training the wrestler.
Following Vignesh’s disqualification, Yusneylis Gusman Lopez, who Vinesh beat in the semi-finals, replaced the Indian wrestler in the final against Sarah Ann Hildebrandt. However, the American grappler won the 50 Kg title.
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