Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat faced disqualification from the women’s 50kg wrestling competition on Wednesday after failing to meet the weight requirements before the gold-medal match. Phogat, who was set to compete against the USA’s Sarah Ann Hildebrandt in the final, was disqualified for weighing a few grams over the 50kg limit despite overnight efforts by her team to help her make weight.
The Indian Olympic Association released a statement, saying, “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 [to] respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions at hand.”
As a result of her disqualification, Vinesh will not receive the silver medal. According to United World Wrestling’s weigh-in rules, “If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he will be eliminated from the competition and ranked last, without rank.”
This turn of events means Vinesh Phogat will be ranked last in the competition, marking a significant setback for the Indian wrestler.