Phogat starved, exercised and spent hours in the sauna for a week to reduce her usual weight of 55–56 kg to get down to her competition weight.
India’s Vinesh Phogat cut her hair and forced herself to wear a shorter singlet but still fell 100g short of Olympic glory, a cruel twist in the tumultuous career of one of the most formidable wrestlers of her time at the Paris Olympics.
On Tuesday night, when over a billion Indians were sleeping thinking they were assured of a silver medal and dreaming of a gold medal from Phogat, the 29-year-old Phogat was trying her best to come below the 50kg mark.
However, none of these measures worked and on Wednesday, Phogat was disqualified and Yusnelis Guzman of Cuba, whom she had defeated in the semi-finals, replaced her in the freestyle final against Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States.
It was a sad end to a campaign that began with the biggest upset of the competition in Paris when Phogat stunned defending champion Yui Susaki, the Japanese wrestler’s first defeat against a foreigner.
Phogat starved herself, exercised and spent hours in the sauna for a week to reduce her natural weight of 55–56 kg to her competitive weight.
“He was given less water before the bout on Tuesday to avoid dehydration and following that he gained more weight than usual,” Dinshaw Paudwala, chief medical officer of the Indian delegation, said.
“We tried every possible drastic measure throughout the night, including cutting her hair, shortening her clothes, but despite all these, we could not do it.” He said Phogat was then put on a drip, but she was medically fine.
After the match, the athlete announced that she was retiring.
“Wrestling won and I lost. My dreams are shattered. I have no more strength left,” Phogat wrote on Instagram. “Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to all of you. I am sorry.”
Indian athletes and officials also expressed their support on social media after the disqualification on Wednesday
Abhinav Bindra, Indian rifle shooter and winner of the men’s 10 m air rifle event at the 2008 Olympic Games, wrote on X, “Totally disappointed. Sometimes you don’t need a gold medal to be a true champion for the people.”
Totally disappointed. Sometimes you don’t need a gold medal to be a true champion for the people…
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@abhinav_bindra) August 7, 2024
Geeta Phogat, who became the first female Indian wrestler to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi in 2010, also expressed her support.
Legend 🇮🇳🙏 @phogat_vinesh pic.twitter.com/d5s6st7at0
– Geeta Phogat (@geeta_phogat) August 8, 2024
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him a “champion among champions”.
Vinesh, you are a champion among champions! You are the pride of India and an inspiration to every Indian.
Today’s failure is very painful. I wish I could express in words the sense of despair I am feeling.
Also, I know you are the epitome of resilience. It’s always been that way…
– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 7, 2024
