The Indian sporting world is in shock now that the disgusting news came to the limelight of wrestler Vinesh Phogat being disqualified in the Women’s 50kg Final at the Paris Olympics. The much-prepared final bout in which Phogat was to fight for gold was cut short on Wednesday when she was disqualified for being overweight.
The 29-year-old grappler, who was already guaranteed a minimum of silver before the tragedy, will return home from the quadrennial event with nothing. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said that Phogat, who was the favorite to win the bout, could not make the weight class on time, which led to this sad outcome.
Quoting Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian Contingent, the hope that she gained the required weight of 48 after realizing that her post-participation weight after the semi-finals totaled 46 2/5.
An additional 7 kg over the permitted weight gave the team only 12 hours to somehow lose it. However, no amount of effort could help shed the 100 extra grams required for Phogat’s entry into finals; they even shaved her hair off.
The broken-down 29-year-old had to be carried to the polyclinic for treatment for severe dehydration as the team tried to push her to make the weight necessary for the weigh-in. The letdown is so enormous; the Indian wrestling community and fans had high expectations for the Phogat sisters to clinch that winning gold medal.
