Vinesh Phogat's story of redemption remains unfulfilled at Paris Olympics

Vinesh Phogat was disqualified hours before her gold medal bout at 2024 Paris Olympics.

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who created history on Tuesday by becoming the first Indian female wrestler to reach the finals of a wrestling event at the Olympics, suffered a heartbreak on Wednesday after being disqualified from the women's 50kg freestyle event gold medal bout for being 100 grams over the weight limit during weigh-in. Vinesh was reportedly 2 kg above the weight limit on Tuesday night, but despite her best efforts, she was unable to reach the permissible limit in time.

Vinesh had a time span of 12 hours from her last match on Tuesday to her weigh-in on Wednesday, during which she, along with the team management, left no stone unturned to keep her Olympic medal dream alive. According to reports, Vinesh skipped sleep and kept exercising the entire night to shed weight.

According to Virender Dahiya, the national wrestling coach of India, Vinesh went to the sauna around midnight to reduce the water weight from her body. She then had a two-hour workout in the morning and even a sparring session but was still unable to drop her weight and was 110 grams above the weight limit. She then tried cutting her hair to drop her weight but saw no positive result.

Notably, India's chef de mission, Gagan Narang, tried asking for some leeway or extra time, but the organisers refused any extra help and ultimately announced her disqualification. As soon as Vinesh’s disqualification news was made public, the wrestler received warm support from the entire nation, including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who consoled Vinesh through his X (formerly known as Twitter) post while referring to her as a true champion of champions.

Vinesh Phogat, who had a tough last year, announced that the 2024 Paris Olympics will be her last Olympics. With just one match away from her first assured Olympics medal, she suffered the most unexpected fate and is now set to end her career without an Olympic medal.