VINESH Phogat announced her retirement on August 8 after being disqualified for being 100g overweight, ending her remarkable journey to the final, which included a notable victory over world champion Yui Susaki.
In a heart-wrenching announcement on X, she declared her decision: “Mother, wrestling won against me. I lost. Your dreams and my courage are shattered. I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001 – 2024. I will forever be indebted to all of you. Please forgive me.”
The 29-year-old Indian wrestler was disqualified from her women’s 50 kg gold medal match at the Paris 2024 Olympics for being 100 grams overweight.
The official statement from the Paris 2024 Olympics emphasised the importance of weight categories in wrestling, noting that weigh-ins are crucial to ensure competitors are within their designated weight limits.
Any athlete exceeding this limit is automatically disqualified.
Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, chief medical officer of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), explained that wrestlers often compete in a weight category lighter than their natural weight.
This strategy, which involves a rigorous process of food and water restriction, exercise, and sauna use to cut weight, can lead to weakness and energy depletion. To counter this, limited water and high-energy foods are provided post-weigh-in.
Despite careful calculations by Vinesh’s nutritionist, who had anticipated a weight cut of 1.5kg, and a careful approach to hydration post-bouts, she was found to be 100 grams over her weight category.
Dr. Dinshaw noted, “However, Vinesh was found to be 100 grams over her 50kg weight category, and hence, she was disqualified.”
In a desperate bid to meet the weight limit, drastic measures, including cutting off her hair, were employed, but she remained over the allowed weight.
