Wrestling Women’s 50kg Class Indian Phogat’s Tears 94 consecutive wins, defeats Japanese athlete, surprises the world Appeals to the Sports Tribunal for being disqualified for over 100g ahead of finals. Shows intention to retire NYT “1 billion hearts are broken”
Vinesh Phogat (India) looks as if she is having a hard time during the quarterfinals of the women’s freestyle 50kg wrestling at the Paris Olympics on the 6th. Phogat advanced to the final after a hard-fought 7-5 win over Oksana Libach (Ukraine). However, Phogat was disqualified the next day at the weigh-in before the finals because she weighed 100g more than the weight class standard.
Vinesh Phogat (30, India), who had upset the invincible Japanese female wrestler Yui Susaki (25), missed out on an Olympic medal after failing to lose 100g of weight. On the
6th (local time), Phogat defeated Susaki 3-2 in the first match (round of 16) of the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling class at the Paris Olympics held at the Arena Champs de Mars in Paris, France. The official Olympic website reported the result of the match, saying, “It was a surprising victory that shocked the champion.” This is because this was the first time that Susaki, the gold medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, had lost in a senior-level international competition. Prior to this match, Susaki had recorded 94 consecutive wins against foreign players and 24 consecutive wins in international competitions. On the other hand, Phogat’s best performance in two Olympic appearances was 9th place (53kg freestyle class) at the Tokyo Games. Japanese sports media described Susaki’s shocking defeat as the “Paris Nightmare.”
Phogat comes from a famous wrestling family in India. He is the cousin of Geeta Phogat (36), the first Indian female wrestler to win a gold medal at the 2010 British Commonwealth Games. The story of the Phogat family, which produced many Indian female wrestlers, was even made into a movie. When Phogat defeated Yusnailis Guzman (28, Cuba) 5-0 in the semifinals held on the same day and became the first Indian female wrestler to advance to the finals, Indian netizens cheered, saying, “This Olympic story should also be made into a movie.”
India had won seven medals (two silver, five bronze) in wrestling at the Olympics up until the Tokyo Games, but no gold medal. No Indian female athlete had ever won a gold medal in any Olympic event. Phogat’s historic gold medal dream was dashed the next day at the weigh-in. Phogat was disqualified because he weighed 100g more than the weight class standard. Wrestling is weighed every morning during the competition, and Phogat passed the weigh-in on the 6th (round of 16 to semifinals), but failed to meet the weight standard on the 7th, before the finals.
According to foreign media such as the BBC, Phogat confirmed that he weighed about 2kg more than the standard the night before and worked hard all night to lose weight. He tried to lose weight by running, jumping rope, and sweating in the sauna. However, he still failed to meet the weight standard, so he cut his hair and had blood drawn, but in the end, he was unable to lose another 100g. Phogat was disqualified according to the World Wrestling Federation regulations and was recorded as the last person in the competition. Phogat, who previously competed in the 53kg freestyle class, lowered his weight class to 50kg for this Olympics, but it is said that he had difficulty controlling his weight during the Olympic preliminaries. The
New York Times (NYT) reported the shock in India, saying, “Phogat’s disqualification has broken a billion hearts.” India has a population of approximately 1.45 billion. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Phogat is the champion of champions.” According to the NYT, the Indian Olympic Committee appealed Phogat’s disqualification to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) at the direction of Prime Minister Modi. It is reported that the message included that since he had made it to the finals, he should be given a silver medal even if he was disqualified.
Phogat, who was hospitalized due to dehydration from rapidly losing weight, expressed his intention to retire. On the 8th, he wrote on his X, “I have lost my courage and I have no more strength. Goodbye, wrestling 2001-2024.” The gold medal in the 50kg freestyle class, from which Phogat was disqualified, went to Sarah Hildebrand (31) of the United States. Susaki advanced directly to the third-place match without a repechage due to Phogat’s disqualification and won the bronze medal. 파워볼사이트