Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Paris Olympics in 2024 after she was found to weigh 100g more than the weight limit for the women's 50kg final.
Phogat earlier became the first Indian female wrestler to advance to the event's gold medal match. On August 6, she beat the reigning champion, Yui Susaki, marking Susaki's first loss in an international competition.
"She was found overweight by 100gm this morning. The rules do not allow this and she has been disqualified," PTI quoted an Indian coach as saying.
"It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning," the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) confirmed.
"No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you to respect Vinesh's privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand," IOA added.
Meanwhile, social media users rushed in to express themselves on the “biggest heartbreak of 2024 Olympics for India”. Billionaire businessman Anand Mahindra, too, expressed himself on Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification ahead of the final.
“NO! NO! NO! Please make this a bad dream that I will wake up from and find it isn’t true…” he wrote.
Many social media users replied to Mahindra’s reaction. One of them wrote, “It’s tough to see Vinesh Phogat disqualified over such a small margin. It makes me wonder: should there be more flexibility in these rules, especially when the margin is so tiny? Either way, Vinesh’s resilience and determination are truly inspiring.”
“She was unstoppable, she ensured at least a silver for India, but now she's disqualified because of weighing a few grams over 50 KG. A cruel end of Vinesh Phogat at the Paris Olympics,” wrote another.
