Paris: A day that began with the hope of independent India winning its third ever individual gold medal at the Olympic Games ended in despair after wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified for being overweight during the mandatory morning weigh-in.
Vinesh appealed against the disqualification in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), demanding that she be awarded a joint silver medal.
The matter will be taken up on Thursday morning.
Irrespective of the verdict, a medal was confirmed and she was on course to becoming the story of this Olympics, given all her on and off the mat struggles over the last two years. The media were ready with all the appreciative pieces.
But sadly Paris, called the City of Love, too turned into a tragedy of epic proportions for the 29-year-old Haryanvi as she was found to be 100 grams overweight during the mandatory weigh-in that all wrestlers must undergo on the day of their bouts.
This was Vinesh's third Olympic Games and was determined to add the elusive medal following heartbreaks in Rio 2016 in Tokyo 2020.
Vinesh, whose weight apparently increased by around two kilos during her three battles on Tuesday, tried her best to lose it by spending the entire night running and sessions in a sauna. According to sources, she didn't even sip a drop of water. In a desperate measure, she even cut her hair but failed to reduce it by the deadline. The weigh-ins were at 8 am local time (11.30 am IST) and she had 15 minutes to pass the procedure. Her bid to cut weight took its toll as Vinesh was hospitalised and given intravenous fluids before being discharged.
“Vinesh (IND) failed second day weigh-in. According to the article 11 of the International Wrestling Rules, 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 Yui Sushi (JPN) vs Oksana Livach (UKR) will become bronze medal match,” said a statement from Paris 2024.
According to the Indian team chief medical officer Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, Vinesh was found 100 grams overweight despite the best efforts of the team to cut it down. “Vinesh was found to be 100 grams over her 50kg weight category, and hence, she was disqualified. All possible drastic measures, including cutting off her hair, were used. However, she was not below her allowed weight of 50kg.”
So how did Vinesh gain the extra pounds in one night? Firstly, weight management is a daily battle that combat sport athletes like wrestlers, boxers and judokas have to fight. In the case of wrestlers where they may have to fight multiple bouts on a single day like Vinesh did on Tuesday where she squared off three times, the body takes a pounding and the only way of staying strong is replenishing it with a high-calorie diet. This includes protein drinks and calorie-dense fruits like bananas.
Experienced wrestlers though are aware of how much food/liquids they need to consume to not only stay hydrated but also ensure they don’t face an insurmountable battle to lose those pounds in a very limited time thereafter. The support staff too keeps a chart of their consumption and it’s all scientific. Very rarely do wrestlers at the elite level fail a weigh-in after clearing it at the start of the competition. In fact, wrestlers practice the regiment strenuously during training before major competitions.
It’s so brutal that some wrestlers don’t eat anything during or after their bouts. Some don’t even drink water, some spend hours in a sauna to drain the fluids out of their bodies prior to weigh-in while some practice calorie-burning activities like running, cycling, skipping. Vinesh too tried her best, apparently spending the entire night alternating between running and sauna to cut around two kilos she had gained on Tuesday. She even cut her hair before the weigh-in but sadly was found overweight.
A seasoned coach who has worked with several medal-winning wrestlers felt it’s unfair to blame anyone for the unfortunate turn of events before saying Vinesh’s decision to cut her weight category from 53kg to 50kg in a bid to punch her Paris ticket may have been her undoing.
Vinesh, who was carried off a stretcher in Rio and then lost her opening bout in Tokyo, was forced to fight in a lower weight category because the talented Antim had sealed the Paris ticket in her usual 53kg and the 50kg was her only route to keep her Olympics bid alive. This was always going to be an uphill battle for someone whose natural body weight is around 56kg and although Vinesh gave it her all, it ended up in misery.
“Vinesh’s natural body weight is 56kg and normally competes in 53kg but chose 50kg because that was her only go-to option,” felt a coach speaking on condition of anonymity. “Vinesh, like every elite wrestler, has barely any body fat. But cutting three kilos and maintaining that is going to be extremely difficult. When you have three high quality bouts in a day, you can’t afford to starve because in such a case you won’t have the energy to fight. You have to keep replenishing it which she did and then worked tirelessly to reduce. She fought like a champion for that medal but sadly it’s another heartbreak.”
Because of the toil the whole weight management exercise took on Vinesh, she was taken to a local hospital and administered intravenous (IV) fluids. She was doing physically fine post the treatment but mentally she must be deflated. A sad end to an inspiring run.