On cusp of Olympic gold to retirement: Here is how 24 hours went for Vinesh Phogat

In 24 hours, the world of happiness turned into despair, and the dramatic shift shook the collective consciousness of India, a nation of a billion people.

After sleeping peacefully with the thought that ace Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat would glitter the country with her golden glow in the women's 50kg final at the Paris Olympics, the fans woke up to the rude and shocking news of her getting disqualified because of weighing 100 gms extra.

It was a heartbreak for Vinesh and for India which the country has not yet recovered from.

Vinesh's disqualification sent the whole country into a frenzy and everybody was clueless about what happened after her semifinal on Tuesday before the roof fell off.

Here is the timeline of how things transpired for Vinesh Phogat in the last 24 hours:

After weighing 49.90kg on the first day of competition (August 6), Vinesh fought in three bouts, including a massive upset win over world champion Yui Susaki of Japan, who was unbeaten for 82 matches before Tuesday's bout. Vinesh beat, Oksana Livach of Ukraine, and Guzman Lopez of Cuba in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Vinesh had juice after her weigh-in in the morning before her bouts and then drank two litres in between her matches to stay hydrated. Later, she had light snacks to keep her energy up during the bouts which is believed to have shot her weight up.

10:30 PM IST, August 6: After reaching the semifinals, Vinesh weighed 52.7kg meaning that she gained 2.8kg for having snacks and water during her bouts.

11:30 PM IST, August 6: Knowing that she needed to go below 50.0kg to be eligible to play in the final on Wednesday, Vinesh and her team of support staff started deploying every measure possible to cut her weight down.

Midnight IST, August 7: Vinesh started her exercises. She did jogging and then skipping. She continued it for one hour or so.

02:30 AM IST, August 7: After doing her exercises and jogging, Vinesh went for the sauna bath which is meant to cut the water weight through sweating. As per one of the camp members, she looked in good shape and it looked like she would need one training session in the morning only to come down to 50kg.

08:30 AM IST, August 7: Vinesh woke up and started to cut the excess weight. She cycled and then went on the treadmill. After that, she sparred with a partner. However, her weight was still above the permissible limit.

11:30 AM IST, August 7: Vinesh went for the mandatory weigh-in with Chef De Mission Gagan Narang, and Team doctor Dr. Dinesh Pardiwala was also present at the spot. She was 100 grams overweight and had 15 minutes to reach the permissible weight. She tried cutting her hair, but it didn't make much of a difference.

11:50 AM IST, August 7: Vinesh was disqualified from the competition by the sport's international governing body United World Wrestling(UWW) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made a formal announcement about her disqualification on social media.

The team on the spot protested the decision but was to no avail as the Olympics doesn't grant extra weight tolerance.

The news sent shockwaves across the country and the Indian contingent was stunned.

Fans across the country started reacting and were left clueless about what happened with hints of sabotage also making rounds since she was involved in the wrestlers' protest against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for around a year. However, as the dust settled down, more information started trickling in.

12:50 PM IST, August 7: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted consoling Vinesh and asked her to be calm. He also asked Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha to take up the matter with the IOC and UWW and lodge a protest.

01:20 PM IST, August 7: News started coming out about Vinesh being admitted to hospital. However, later it was found that she was admitted to the Games Village Polyclinic due to dehydration as a precautionary measure. IOA president Usha met her there.

After a couple of more hours, explanations started coming in and a lot of debate started around the rules of the competition. Meanwhile, there was no statement from Vinesh till then.

The rumours of IOA filing a complaint against the decision started coming up around 09:00 PM IST.

11:45 PM IST, August 7: Yes, the appeal against Vinesh's disqualification was filed by the IOA. The appeal was filed in front of the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) ad-hoc panel and the hearing for the appeal is awaited till now.

05:15 AM IST, August 8: Vinesh Phogat announces retirement by writing an emotional social media post. She wrote on X, "Mother, wrestling won, I lost. Your dreams and my resilience, both are broken."

The 24 hours saw Vinesh transforming from being the first-ever Indian woman wrestler to reach the final at the Olympics to a wrestler whose legacy and her inspiring story will be remembered forever for fighting whenever, be it on the mat or off the mat.