Wrestling
Explained: Why was Vinesh Phogat disqualified from the gold medal bout?
Here are all the answers to questions surrounding the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Ace Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat suffered heartbreak when she was disqualified from the 50kg category for failing to make the designated 50kg cut during the weigh-in on Wednesday morning.
“It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50 kg class,” read a statement published on social media by the Indian Olympic Association.
“Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50 kg this morning.”
Why was Vinesh disqualified?
All combat sports have a provision of weigh-ins to group athletes of the same weight and stature together for fair match-ups.
Vinesh had to weight 50kgs or lesser but on Wednesday morning, she was overweight by close to 150 grams. And this meant disqualification from her gold medal bout.
What are weigh-ins in wrestling?
As per the rules of United World Wrestling (UWW), the governing body of Wrestling, weigh-ins take place in the morning for any wrestler competing that day.
Since the tournament is conducted over two days, any wrestler that makes the finals or the repechage will have to make weight on both days.
In the first weigh-in, wrestlers will have 30 minutes to do the weigh-in. Contestants are weighed with their singlets and nothing else.
For any wrestlers competing on the second day, the weigh-in will last 15 minutes.
"The medical control and a first weigh-in will be held the morning of the concerned weight category. The qualified athletes for the finals and repechages will be weighed in again the second morning of the concerned weight category. No more weight tolerance will be allowed for the second weigh-in. 2kg weight tolerance is allowed for World Cup and the International Tournaments (Except UWW Ranking Events)," states Article 8 of the UWW Rulebook for competitions.
Was Vinesh overweight on the first day?
No. Vinesh was not overweight on the first day and met the weight requirements on Tuesday.
Combat sports athletes usually deploy methods like skipping meals, water intake and not eating for longer periods to make the weigh-in.
Once they have met the requirements, they can eat food and drink fluids to participate in their bouts. Usually, the opening day has three bouts and it becomes important for wrestlers to manage their nutrition and also not gain excessive weight.
"The wrestlers have some sort of food after meeting requirements. It gives them the strength back to fight," A sports scientist told The Bridge over a phone call.
Usually, Vinesh competes in the 53kg category and it was difficult for her to cut down to 50kg.
"I will have to manage my weight a lot better. I have brought myself down to 50 Kg after so long so I will try and maintain this as much as I can. It's not easy for me not to put on weight because my muscle mass is very high," Vinesh said after winning the quota for the Paris Olympics.
Will Vinesh Phogat get a medal?
As per UWW rules, Vinesh Phogat will be ranked last in her category for being disqualified and needless to say, she will not get any medal either.
Why was Vinesh Phogat not competing in the 53kg category?
At the Tokyo Olympic Games, Vinesh Phogat competed in the 53kg category and has since stuck to it. That said, everything changed once she began spearheading the protests against the former president of the Wrestling Federation of India Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Spending days on the streets in protest kept Vinesh away from practice and tournaments. Meanwhile, Antim Panghal, the U20 World Champion, made rapid strides and emerged as the mainstay in the 53kg category.
And when Antim won bronze at the 2023 World Championships, she duly bagged the Olympic quota for the 53kg category. Thereafter, Antim consolidated her position as the top wrestler in the category by winning a bronze medal in the Asian Games in the 53kg event.
To keep her Olympic aspirations alive, Vinesh had to pivot and explore the prospect of competing in the 50kg category.
Once that decision was made, Vinesh resumed training and participated in the national trials in the 50kg category, which she went on to win. Thereafter, at the Asian Trials, she bagged a quota, which secured her berth for the Paris Olympic Games in the 50kg category.