Star Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who had seemed to be on their way to a gold medal in the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling event at the Paris 2024 Olympic games, has now retired from the sport.
Dramatic scenes unfolded on Wednesday, the morning after her stunning run to the final, when she was deemed to have been over her weight limit for the event.
It meant immediate disqualification, not just from the gold medal match but also from the entire tournament. It meant she would not even get a silver medal.
Incidentally, she had met the weight limit the day before and competed in the first three bouts.
A distraught Vinesh then took to social media to announce that she has retired from the sport.
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What did Vinesh say on her retirement?
The 29-year-old posted on X that she had lost her fight with wrestling. And that she did not have any strength or courage left in her to fight anymore. She ended the post with a phrase that translated as 'Good bye wrestling'.
माँ कुश्ती मेरे से जीत गई मैं हार गई माफ़ करना आपका सपना मेरी हिम्मत सब टूट चुके इससे ज़्यादा ताक़त नहीं रही अब।
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 7, 2024
अलविदा कुश्ती 2001-2024 🙏
आप सबकी हमेशा ऋणी रहूँगी माफी 🙏🙏
What happened to Vinesh at the Olympics?
Vinesh had a golden run in the event on Tuesday. First, she beat world number 1 and the gold medalist of Tokyo 2020 games, Yui Susaki of Japan to start her tournament. It was a monumental win, given Susaki had never lost a bout in an international meet. She followed it up with a 7-5 win over Ukraine's Oksana Livacha. A 5-0 semi-final victory against Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez followed.
She was set to compete in the final against USA's Sarah Hildebrandt. But fate had a cruel twist for Vinesh.
She failed to meet the weight requirements on the morning of her wrestling 50kg freestyle gold medal match and was disqualified.
"It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning. 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 statement said.
Did Vinesh Phogat appeal the decision to disqualify her?
Late-night reports emerged that the Indian contingent, on behalf of Vinesh, officially placed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against her disqualification.
At first, she asked for reinstatement to the gold medal match which was not possible. She then changed her request and asked to be given silver medal.
When is CAS' verdict on Vinesh Phogat expected?
The CAS has acknowledged Vinesh's appeal and will now give an interim verdict on the morning of August 8, Thursday.
And if it goes in the wrestler's favour, Vinesh could be handed the silver medal.
MORE: India at Paris 2024 Olympics: Medal winners and standings
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