Vinesh Phogat’s day of triumph turned into utter despair on Wednesday morning after the wrestler was disqualified from the 2024 Paris Olympics. Vinesh had qualified for the final of the women’s 50kg wrestling event – the first Indian woman to do so. But now she has to return from Paris empty-handed. The Indian Olympic Association sought privacy for the wrestler, who was competing in her third Olympics.
International rules state that any wrestler who is found to be overweight at the weigh-in will be placed at the bottom of the final rankings. She had defeated Japan's reigning champion Yui Susaki in a remarkable performance on Tuesday en route to the final and was scheduled to face American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt in the top match tonight.
Star badminton player Saina Nehwal said the nation was disheartened. “I have been cheering her on for the last two three days. Every player trains for this moment. I know what she must be feeling. There are no words to describe this as an athlete. Maybe the weight has gone up. She is a fighter and has always made glorious comebacks. Next time she will make sure that there is a medal,” Saina Nehwal told DailyExpertNews.
“She is an experienced athlete. She knows what is right and wrong. I don't know the details of wrestling. I don't know if there was ever an appeal to the Olympics that led to something important. She knows the rules. I don't know what mistake she made, and that on the last day. I have always seen her work very hard. She gives 100 percent.”
Saina Nehwal, India's first Olympic medallist in badminton, was surprised by the 'mistake' at such a high level.
“Generally, no athlete at this level gets this kind of mistake. How this could happen is a question mark. Because she has a big team. She has so many coaches, physiotherapists, trainers. They must all be feeling so bad. I am not sure about the rules and regulations of wrestling. As an athlete, I feel bad,” Saina said.
“It's not like she's playing her first Olympics, it's her third Olympics. As an athlete, she has to know the rules. If there's a mistake, I don't know how it happened. On such a big stage, I've never heard of another wrestler being disqualified for being overweight. She's an experienced athlete. Somewhere, Vinesh has also made a mistake. She should also be blamed. For such a big competition, such a mistake is not good.”
Saina further said that there was also a mistake made by Vinesh.
“She is an Asian Games champion, a Commonwealth Games champion. Somewhere there must have been a mistake by Vinesh. Because for such an important competition, every player will be alert that the weight should be within the permissible limits. How such a mistake occurred, only she or her coach can answer. But I feel dejected that we missed out on one of the surest medals,” Saina said.
“I understand what she and her coaches are going through. They should be answering now. Maybe something happened by accident. Her coaches were crying after her win. They should be better able to answer what exactly happened.”
With PTI inputs
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