On the cusp of glory, wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s campaign in her third Olympics ended amid drama as the seasoned wrestler, who stunned Japan’s World and Olympic champion Yui Susaki on her way to the women’s 50kg final, was disqualified after weighing 100 grams more than the permissible limit in the morning weigh-in ahead of the final here on Wednesday.
A two-time World Wrestling Championships bronze medallist in 53kg and a prominent face of the wrestlers’ protest against alleged sexual harassment by former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Vinesh, who maintains a body weight of around 57kg, had dropped down 50kg for the Olympics. She managed to cut down her weight to the stipulated limit on day one of the competition but struggled to do so for the second consecutive day prior to her final against USA’s Sarah Ann Hildebrandt.
“Last night her weight was up by 1 kg. We and her personal support staff worked to cut it down. In the morning, she went to the sauna and gym. Unfortunately, her weight was slightly above the limit,” Indian women’s team’s chief coach Virender Dahiya told The Hindu.
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Chef-de-mission Gagan Narang, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president P.T. Usha and the head of India’s medical commission Dinshaw Pardiwala were present to help Vinesh.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and the IOA promptly approached the United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body for the sport, but could not get any exemption.
According to UWW’s Article 11 on weigh-in, “For all competitions, the weigh-in is organized each morning of the concerned weight-category... If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the first or the second weigh-in), he will be eliminated of the competition and ranked last, without rank.”
UWW president Nenad Lalovic underlined the rules. “We have to respect the rules. I am so sad about what happened to her. She was overweight, even by a small margin. But rules are rules,” Mr. Lalovic told reporters.
Another athlete, Italian Emanuela Liuzzi had to forfeit her bout after being overweight in the same weight category on Tuesday.
As a result of Vinesh’s elimination, Cuban Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who had lost to the Indian in the semifinals, became eligible to compete in the final. It is learnt that Vinesh, who had some weakness due to the drastic weight cut and was treated at the polyclinic inside the Games Village, is fine.
Even as the country, fighting to match its previous edition’s tally of seven medals, was deprived of a medal, Vinesh would be proud of her effort. She punched above her weight to take down Yui in spectacular fashion before getting past Ukraine’s Oksana Livach and Yusnelis to become the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the Olympics final before her disqualification.
According to UWW’s Article-11 on weigh-in, “For all competitions, the weigh-in is organized each morning of the concerned weight-category. The weigh-in and the medical control last 30 minutes.
“The second morning of the concerned weight category only the wrestlers who participate in the repechages and finals have to come for the weigh-in. This weigh-in will last 15 minutes.
“The only uniform allowed for the weigh-in is the singlet...No weight tolerance will be allowed for the singlet.
“Throughout the entire weigh-in period, wrestlers have the right, each in turn, to get on the scale as many times as they wish. If an athlete does not attend or fails the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he/she will be eliminated from the competition and ranked last, without rank.”
There can be exceptions on medical grounds, though.
Vinesh lost weight to compete in 53kg
Vinesh, a two-time World championships bronze medallist in 53kg, had to drop down to 50kg after Antim secured the 53kg quota place by winning the World championships bronze last year. As the WFI was suspended and the ad-hoc body was running the show, there was confusion over whether she would get a chance to challenge Antim for the Paris spot when an elected body of the WFI assumed charge. This made Vinesh to compete in the 50kg selection trials for the Olympic qualifiers and eventually she won the quota place.
However, dropping down to 50kg was always a big challenge for her as she needed to cut down nearly seven to eight kg of her body weight to fit into the minimum weight category in the Olympics.
“I will have to manage my weight a lot better. I have brought myself down to 50kg after so long so I will try and maintain this as much as I can. It’s not easy for me not to put on weight because my muscle mass is very high,” Vinesh told PTI in April after winning the 50kg quota for India.
Now, with the never-before incident of Vinesh getting disqualified has denied India a medal.
Despite being a medal favourite, Vinesh has already suffered heartbreaks at the Rio Olympics and Tokyo Games.
Nistula Hebbar adds from New Delhi:
According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to IOA president P.T. Usha and sought first hand information from her on the issue and the options India has in the wake of Vinesh’s setback.
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Published - August 07, 2024 12:19 pm IST
