Indian fans woke up to a shocking verdict on Wednesday morning as Olympic finalist Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from participating in the women’s freestyle wrestling gold medal match in the 50 kg weight category for being overweight.
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The verdict stirred up a nationwide conspiracy because of her involvement in the protests against the Wrestling Federation of India. However, as the day has progressed the picture has gotten a bit clearer as the competency of Phogat’s coaching and support team has been brought under question.
In some ways similar to Phogat, wrestler Antim Panghal also bowed out of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday. Panghal had to go through a highly strenuous process to fit into the 53 kg weight category which took a huge toll on her energy levels before her clash against Turkiye’s Zeynep Yetgil.
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What happened to Vinesh Phogat before the final?
Weigh-ins at the Olympic stage take place before every round to ensure a wrestler is deemed fit to participate in the weight class. After her bout against Yusnelys Guzman in the semi-final, Vinesh had her recovery meal and was found 2.7 kg overweight rather than the estimated 1.5 kg.
With just 24 hours to go for the final, Vinesh was required to drop a whopping 2.7 kgs. The athlete tried her best to fit into the weight category. Vinesh cycled, did high-intensity exercises, and even avoided drinking water to fit the weight category ahead of the final.
Vinesh even cut her hair and went through the sauna and steam. She was eventually found just 100 grams overweight, resulting in a heartbreaking disqualification from the event.
According to the rules, if a wrestler is deemed overweight ahead of any round, they are directly placed at the bottom of the standings, resulting in an instant disqualification.
Further questions were also raised on the competency of the support staff on Thursday as Panghal, who was seeded number 4 ahead of her first-round bout against Zetgil, bowed after a shocking 10-0 defeat.
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What happened to Antim Panghal?
Panghal was a huge medal hope for the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics. The 19-year-old bronze medalist at the 2023 World Championships showed immense promise in the 53 kg weight category, however, her journey in her debut Olympics came to a heartbreaking end in the first round.
Panghal was found overweight 48 hours ahead of her match against Zetgil. She had to go through a similar process as Phogat. Instead of a day, Panghal forced herself to starve for 48 hours straight, taking a huge toll on her physical condition ahead of the game.
With such low energy levels, Panghal was never in the game as Zetgil won the bout one-sided. The Turk is a two-time bronze medalist at the European championships and defeated Panghal 10-0 to progress into the next round.
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