Vinesh Phogat disqualified from Paris Olympics 2024: The star wrestler was set to lock horns with Sarah Hildebrandt of the US for the gold medal.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified before the women’s 50 kg freestyle final at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday after being over overweight, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said. The update sent shockwaves across the internet, with her supporters expressing their angst and heartbreak.
India’s Vinesh Phogat reacts after winning the round of 16 women’s 50kg wrestling match against Japan’s Yui Susaki(HT_PRINT)
Among those leading the reactions was industrialist Anand Mahindra.
“NO! NO! NO! Please make this a bad dream that I will wake up from and find it isn’t true,” Mahindra wrote on X (formerly Twitter), minutes after the news broke of Phogat being disqualified from Paris Olympics 2024.
Vinesh Phogat, 29, had created history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in the event on Tuesday night.
“She was found overweight by 100gm this morning. The rules do not allow this and she has been disqualified,” said an Indian coach.
The disqualification means that the fiesty wrester from Haryana will end medal-less in the Games as international rules stipulate that any grappler found overweight at the time of weigh-in ends up at the bottom of the final standings.
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