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Indian Wrestler Vinesh Phogat Went to Great Lengths to Avoid Disqualification
The gold medal hopeful cut her hair and adjusted her wrestling singlet to try to make weight. Her efforts failed.
At the Paris Olympics, acclaimed Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat is grappling with being disqualified after failing to make weight on the day of her gold medal match.
During the weigh-in on Wednesday morning for the women’s 50kg (110 pounds) category, Phogat, 29, was 100 grams overweight.
One-hundred grams is equal to the weight of a medium-sized banana, according to The Guardian.
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Making weight is a must in wrestling. To do so, wrestlers rely on a calculated restriction of food and water along with sweating from exercises and sauna before a weigh-in.
Phogat had been running and skipping overnight in an attempt to shed weight before the weigh in, according to The Guardian report.
That didn’t cut it. Phogat and her team also went to extremes to solve the issue, including trimming her tresses and adjusting her wrestling singlet.
“We had tried all possible drastic measures throughout the night, including cutting off her hair, shortening her clothes but despite all of this we could not make it,” said Dinshaw Paudiwala, chief medical officer of the Indian delegation, Reuters reported.
As a result, Phogat was barred from competition and her Olympic dream was dashed. The disappointment came after she'd become the first woman to represent her country in the finals, per NBC Sports.
In response, on X, formerly known as Twitter, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Phogat as a "champion among champions."
"You are India's pride and an inspiration for each and every Indian," Modi said.
Who is Vinesh Phogat?
A three-time Olympian who made her debut at the Games in Rio 2016, 29-year-old Phogat “comes from one of India's most renowned wrestling families,” according to Olympics.com.
Phogat has won three Commonwealth Games gold medals, two World Championships bronze medals and one Asian Games gold medal. She is also an activist who has taken a brave stance against sexual harassment in her sport, NBC News reported.
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Phogat didn’t make it to the medal podium in Rio or Tokyo. At the Paris Games, Phogat was on a winning streak. She beat the reigning gold medalist Yui Susaki of Japan, defeated Ukraine’s Oksana in the quarterfinal and bested Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semifinal.
U.S. wrestler Sarah Hidenbrandt wins gold
Phogat was set to face Team USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt, who was seeded sixth in the competition, in the freestyle gold-medal match.
Hildebrandt, who won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Games, grappled against Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman for the gold medal. Phogat beat Guzman in the semi-finals on Tuesday. After Phogat’s disqualification. Guzman was elevated to the gold medal match.
Hildebrandt, 30, defeated Guzman 3-0 to win the United States' second wrestling gold at the Paris Games. Amit Elor, 20, also won gold in the women's 68kg/149 lbs division.
