Paris Olympics: Vinesh Phogat Disqualified from Women’s 50kg Wrestling

PARIS:
In what will be a major heartbreak for Indian wrestling, Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the women’s 50kg event at the Paris Olympics after being weighed “few grams over” the permissible limits on Wednesday morning.

“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. No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand,” the Indian Olympic Association said.

Moreover, the Indian grappler will be placed last in the as per UWW rules.

Vinesh on Tuesday became the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final of an Olympic Games after she defeated Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman 5-0 in the semifinal.

She started her campaign by stunning world No. 1, Japan’s four-time World Champion and Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Yui Susaki, who was undefeated in 95 international matches, in her entire career as a wrestler.

Vinesh then advanced to her maiden semifinals after beating Ukraine’s Oksana Vasylivna Livach 7-5 in her second bout of the day.

A former World No.1 in 48kg, Vinesh was participating in her third Olympics. She missed out on a medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics because of an injury. She lost to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the 53kg quarterfinals in the Tokyo Olympics.

Vinesh is also the first Indian woman to have won gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games.