Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat's coaches and support staff took extreme measures to try and bring her weight in the 50kg category before the official weigh-in ahead of her gold medal match of the marquee event against USA's Sarah Hildebrandt. She was the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for an Olympic final. Vinesh failed to qualify for the final bout after failing the weigh-in as she was reportedly 100 gm overweight from the permissible 50kg limit for her weight category and because of that she was disqualified from the entire competition.
According to Indian Express, Vinesh passed the weigh-in before her event began on Tuesday morning but was found 2kg overweight at night. The coaches didn't let Vinesh sleep the entire night to increase her stress. She didn't eat or drink anything for more than 12 hours and indulged in relentless jogging, skipping and cycling to reduce excess weight and when everything failed the coaches cut Vinesh's hair and shortened her clothes and "attempted to draw out blood, but their efforts did not yield the desired results."
Now that Vinesh has been disqualified, Cuba wrestler Guzman Lopez who Vinesh defeated will compete in the Final. Repechage Susaki Yui (JPN) vs Livach Oksana (UKR) will play the bronze medal match.
Indian Olympic Association requested privacy for Vinesh Phogat.
“No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand,” the IOA said in a release.
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Narendra Modi for Vinesh Phogat
“Vinesh, you are a champion among champions! You are India's pride and an inspiration for each and every Indian. Today's setback hurts. I wish words could express the sense of despair that I am experiencing. At the same time, I know that you epitomise resilience. It has always been your nature to take challenges head on. Come back stronger! We are all rooting for you” posted PM Modi.
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