Vinesh Phogat gained 2 kg, failed to cut it overnight: 24 hour timeline explained

Vinesh Phogat competed in the 50-kg weight category wrestling at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, a shift from her previous categories of 53 kg and 55 kg

Disheartened wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Thursday announced her retirement from wrestling, a day after being disqualified from Paris Olympics 2024 over exceeding the qualifying-weight limit by a mere 100 grams.

“I don’t have any more strength now…,” Phogat said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) as she bid adieu to the sport she had been engaged in since 2001.

Phogat, 29, competed in the 50-kg weight category in Paris on Tuesday, a shift from her previous categories of 53 kg and 55 kg. This change, which happened in March during trials in India, is one of the factors that contributed to her overnight struggle to cut weight for Wednesday’s match, where she had a chance to win a gold medal.

Also Read: Why Vinesh Phogat chose the 50 kg weight category amidst uncertainty

Timeline of Vinesh Phogat’s weight loss journey at Paris Olympics:

Ahead of her victory in round one on Tuesday, where she beat the defending Japanese wrestler Yui Susaki and then took down Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semi-final, Phogat weighed 49.90 kg, The Hindu-owned Sportstar reported on Wednesday.

Every morning at 7.30 am, wrestlers are required to log their weight on a digital weighing scale at the Olympic Athletes Village in Paris, which is overseen by a referee, a doctor, and two officials. The scale is accurate to 100 grams and determines if the player is qualified to participate or not.

How did Vinesh Phogat gain 2 kg in one day?

With sunken eyes and arid veins, a dehydrated Phogat could barely walk on the day of her first weigh-in but managed to take on her opponents to secure her place in the finals, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to do so.

The wrestler had a celebratory glass of juice in the morning right after she had first made weight – 300 grams (on Tuesday). This is a usual process for wrestlers as once after qualifying during the weigh-in, they rehydrate to regain their physical advantage. This means that Phogat had started gaining weight on Tuesday.

Before her Tuesday bout, Phogat had another couple of litres of fluid to rehydrate herself. This added another 2-kg of body weight. She also had some snacks throughout the day to maintain energy, which added another 700 grams to her weight, the Sportstar report added.

Following Tuesday’s competition, Phogat’s weight had jumped to 52.7 kg.

Why did Vinesh Phogat fail to shed weight overnight?

Extreme weight loss situations can lead to issues like organ damage from dehydration. One reason Phogat faced immense difficulty losing weight overnight was because her body, after being dehydrated for weeks, refused to give up water once it was rehydrated. Even urination became impossible in such instances.

To make her cut, Phogat stayed up all night and spent six hours on the treadmill and another three hours in the sauna. She did not consume any food or fluid. Her weight was reducing but not fast enough. In desperation, her team took drastic measures such as trimming the elastic in the bottom of her costume and chopping her hair.

On Wednesday morning, when Phogat was observed on the scale again, it read 50.1 kg. This led the staff of the United World Wrestling to declare her as disqualified from the event, stripping her of even the confirmed silver medal.

Could Phogat have delcared herself as injured to retain silver medal?

Olympian and former Captain of the Indian hockey team Viren Rasquinha on Thursday quashed the rumours that Phogat could have declared herself as injured or unfit to withdraw from the finals while retaining the silver medal. He said that it would have led to her disqualification anyway and also ruled out any scope of "sabotage."