Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s journey at the 2024 Paris Olympics has been a whirlwind of highs and lows.
On Tuesday, Aug. 6, the 29-year-old was on her way to glory after becoming the first-ever Indian female wrestler to qualify for the final in Olympic history. Hers had all the traits of a hero’s story after making headlines as one the leading voices in protests against sexual harassment in her sport at the beginning of 2023. Then, her dreams were cut short on Wednesday morning in a shocking disqualification that sent ripples through the country.
“Today’s setback hurts. I wish words could express the sense of despair that I am experiencing,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in a statement posted on X, adding “Come back stronger! We are all rooting for you.”
Why was Vinesh Phogat disqualified from the Olympic Wrestling final?
In a heartbreaking turn of events for the Indian contingent at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Vinesh Phogat failed to meet her wrestling class’s mandatory target weight of 50kg. Phogat was reportedly just 100 grams overweight despite radical efforts to drop the extra weight that eventually landed her in the hospital.
According to the Times of India, the athlete was hospitalized for dehydration. Images circulated online of Phogat looking disheveled after allegedly staying up all night without eating in an attempt to change her fate. The wrestler had seemingly guaranteed at least a silver medal by making it to the finals, but the disqualification would place her last in the competition.
As supporters begged the Indian Olympic Association to appeal the decision, conspiracies arose tying the ordeal to Phogat’s involvement in violent protests that began in January of last year against the then-president of the Wrestling Federation Of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, whom several athletes accused of sexual harassment. In a statement released Wednesday morning, IOA President Dr. PT Usha confirmed that the Wrestling Federation of India had filed an appeal to United World Wrestling.
Phogat and other top Indian wrestlers camped out for weeks in a drawn-out demonstration that concluded in clashes with the police in May. Per CNN, the 29-year-old, her sister and fellow wrestler Sangeeta Phogat, and Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik were all detained by the police and later released.
Singh was charged with assault, stalking, and sexual harassment with his trial finally beginning over a year later, on July 26, which was coincidentally the day the Olympic Games began in Paris. On her way to the final, which was set to place her against Team USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt in a fight for gold, Phogat remarkably beat reigning Olympic gold medalist Yui Susaki who, according to CNN, had never lost a fight at the senior level, as well as Ukraine’s Oksana Livach, and Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez.