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India's star wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified before the final match at the Paris Olympics 2024. She reached the final of the 50 kg category, but Vinesh was found to be 100 grams overweight. Vinesh Phogat is counted among the best wrestlers in the world. She has many medals to her name.
Star wrestler Vinesh Phogat usually weighs 55-56 kg. She started her career fighting in the 48 kg category. She competed in 50 kg at the Paris Olympics. This is the category in which Vinesh last competed in 2018. The question is why Vinesh Phogat, who weighs 55 kg, was forced to play in the 50 kg category?
Vinesh Phogat competed only in the 50kg and 53kg categories
She is fighting only in the 50 kg and 53 kg category and who knows, if the rules were clear, she would have also competed in the 53 kg category in the Paris Olympics. These questions are being raised after Vinesh's statement in March this year. Vinesh won the 50 kg category trial for the Paris Olympics. At the same time, he was in the top-4 in the 53 kg category. Due to the opaque nature of the rules, he gave trials for two series. It was not clear to him which category he could be a part of and hence his participation in the Olympics remained in his hands.
Vinesh Phogat participated in 48 kg in Rio Olympics
Vinesh Phogat competed in the 48kg category at the 2016 Rio Olympics. This was her first Olympics. In 2018, she won a gold medal in the 50kg weight class at the Asian Games, but just a year later, she won a bronze medal in the 53kg category at the 2019 World Championships. The reason for this change was weight loss, which she was struggling with. After the Asian Games, Vinesh Phogat decided to become a wrestler in the 53kg category to avoid the struggle of repeated weight loss. She won a bronze medal in 53kg at the 2022 World Championships. But after opening up a front against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and an injury halting her comeback after the Asian Games, Phogat decided to fight in the 53kg category. During that time, finalist Panghal won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships, paving the way for India to play in the 53kg category for the Paris Olympics. The earlier rules of the Wrestling Federation of India had finally given Panghal the green signal for the Paris Olympics.
Why participate in 50kg category?
After this, Phogat got confused, because at that time wrestling in the country was governed by an ad hoc committee. The committee promised that there would be trials for the 53 kg category. But after the election of the Wrestling Federation of India and the decision of the ad hoc committee after Sanjay Singh became the president, Vinesh Phogat believed that the Wrestling Federation of India would not guarantee her participation in the 53 kg category. If this had happened, Phogat could have competed in 50 kg or 57 kg. Vinesh chose the 50 kg category.
What did Phogat say?
The 29-year-old Phogat had then said that she had no clarity on the status of the 53kg quota or whether there would be trials. Usually the quota is won by the country but they have not held trials before. The ad-hoc committee said it will not happen this time. I had no choice but to do this because I want to participate in the Olympics. She confirmed that the decision to compete in the 50kg category is to ensure that her dream of playing at the Paris Olympics remains intact.
Phogat usually weighs 55-56 kg. Maintaining a 50 kg weight requires several days of hard work. That is why United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic said that it was not a matter of one kilo but she had to cut down a large amount to reach the '100 gram' figure, which caused the problem.