Champion wrestler Vinesh Phogat arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday, returning from the Paris Olympics where she faced a setback by being disqualified for being overweight despite reaching the 50kg final. Her arrival in the national capital was marked by tight security. Phogat had stayed in Paris after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a joint silver medal, but her appeal was denied on Wednesday.
Vinesh Phogat’s campaign in Paris Olympics resulted in heartbreak after she got disqualified because of being 100 grams overweight in the final gold medal match. She even put her appeal in the court for a joint silver medal but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed it.
Vinesh was on the verge to script history, she had the potential to even bring gold for the country but fate had different plans. On Friday, Vinesh talked about the turn of events that changed everything for her. She said that the team did not give up but failed to make the cut which eventually led to her disqualification.
“There is so much more to say and so much more to tell but words will never be enough and maybe I will speak again when the time feels right. On the night of 6th August and the morning of 7th August, all I want to say is that we did not give up, our efforts did not stop, and we did not surrender but the clock stopped and the time was not fair,” she in a social media post.
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— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 16, 2024
Reports indicate that although Vinesh was within the 50 kg weight limit before the preliminary rounds, she gained nearly three kilograms after competing in three consecutive bouts on August 6. In an effort to shed the extra 2.7 kilograms, she stayed up all night jogging and skipping, but her efforts proved unsuccessful. Her team even resorted to cutting her hair and drawing blood, yet Vinesh was still 100 grams over the weight limit.
