Wrestling
Olympics 2024: Who is Woller Akos, the man who wept ringside?
Overcome with emotion over Vinesh Phogat's victory, Akos shed tears of joy.
Woller Akos is seen crying after Vinesh's victory over Yusneylys Guzman of Cuba in the women's 50kg freestyle semifinal. (Photo Credit: X/JioCinema)
On Tuesday night, Vinesh Phogat turned in a phenomenal performance scoring one upset after another making it to the finals of the women's 50kg category.
And despite tragedy striking in the form of her disqualification for not making the desired weight, one image from her victories on Tuesday night stood out.
It was that of her coach, celebrating ringside and eventually bursting into tears of joy.
Who is Vinesh Phogat's coach?
Woller Akos, Vinesh's Hungarian coach, has been training Vinesh since 2018.
He has an impressive record, including coaching his wife to a world championship gold medal in 2011.
Under his guidance, Vinesh has made notable improvements in her mental preparation and refined her technique. This year, she won the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, which was an excellent precursor to the Olympics.
Despite facing criticism after Vinesh's disappointing performance at the Tokyo Olympics—where it was alleged that Akos prioritized training his wife over Vinesh in their Hungarian training camp—these concerns were dispelled when Vinesh reached the finals of the Paris Olympics.
In preparation for the Paris Games, Akos arranged for Vinesh to train with sparring partners from Ukraine and Hungary, including European Champion Iryna Husyak and junior world silver medalist Mercedesz Denes.
