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A billion hearts were broken as wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified for Paris Olympics 2024 gold medal bout for being 100 grams overweight at weigh-in on August 7 morning. Vinesh tried everything she could to get her weight down to the permissible limit but was eventually disqualified. Amidst disbelief, support for Vinesh poured in on social media. India’s two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu extended support to Vinesh who would now return empty-handed after assuring a medal.
“Dear @Phogat_Vinesh, you will always be a champion in our eyes. I was deeply hoping you could win the gold. The little time I spent with you at PDCSE was watching a woman with a superhuman will fight to get better. It was inspiring. I am here for you always, sending all the universe’s positivity your way,” Sindhu wrote in a post on X.
Vinesh went to extremes to shed weight
On August 6, Vinesh became the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the final at the Olympics. Vinesh was more than two kgs overweight on August 6 evening after her semifinal bout. She jogged, cycled, skipped to shed the excess weight. Later, she resorted to cutting her hair and drawing out blood in order to reduce her weight but could not get it down to the permissible limit.
Her semifinal opponent Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman has qualified for the final where she will face USA’s Sarah Ann Hindlebrandt.
“Vinesh (IND) failed second day weigh-in. According to the article 11 of the International Wrestling Rules, VINESH Vinesh (IND) will be replaced by the wrestler who lost against her in the Semifinal. Therefore GUZMAN LOPEZ Yusneylis (CUB) will compete in the Final. Repechage SUSAKI Yui (JPN) vs LIVACH Oksana (UKR) will become Bronze Medal Match,” Paris Olympics organisers said in a statement on August 7.
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Earlier, Sindhu who won a silver at Rio Olympics 2016 and bronze at Tokyo Olympics 2020, crashed out of Paris Olympics 2024 after losing 19-21, 14-21 to sixth-seeded China's He Bing Jiao. This is the first time since Beijing Olympics 2008, Indian shuttlers returned without a medal at the Games.
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