Vinesh Phogat says ‘Alvida’ to Wrestling after Paris Olympics Disqualification

NEW DELHI:
Indian star wrestler Vinesh Phogat said “Alvida” to wrestling following her heartbreaking disqualification from the Paris Olympics.

Vinesh was disqualified from the women’s 50 kg gold medal bout at the Paris Olympics after being weighed “few grams over” the permissible limits on Wednesday morning.

Following the major heartbreak at the grand sporting arena, Vinesh took to social media on Thursday morning to announce her decision to retire from wrestling via an emotional post on X.

“Maa, wrestling has won, I have lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my courage, everything is broken,” Vinesh wrote.

“I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I shall be indebted to you all. Forgive (me),” it read further.

Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to Vinesh in the semifinals, replaced her in the final against American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt.

The 29-year-old has appealed against her Olympic disqualification with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and has demanded a joint silver medal in the 50 kg weight category.

Vinesh, who was playing in her third Olympics, made history on Tuesday by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final at the Olympics. But her redemption story, following a disappointing performance in the Tokyo Olympics, ended in heartbreak as she was disqualified from the competition.

She was found 100 grams over the limit for 50 kg and thus ruled out the competition and placed last as per United World Wrestling rules.

She had kept awake and worked hard along with her coach, support staff and Indian contingent’s chief medical officer all night to shed weight that she had gained to replenish the vital fluids lost in the three bouts and get to 50 kg but to no avail and she turned out overweight by just 100 gm.

Vinesh was so dehydrated by her efforts that she had to be admitted to the polyclinic in the Games Village for IV drips.

The wrestler from Haryana has three Commonwealth Games golds, two World Championships bronze medals and one Asian Games gold medal to her name. She was also crowned Asian champion in 2021.

A former World No. 1 in 48 kg, Vinesh won her first major international title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, claiming gold in the 48 kg category. More medals would follow Vinesh as she built towards her maiden Olympic experience in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

She missed out on a medal in the Rio Olympics because of an injury. Vinesh was stretchered off the mat in tears, her anguish and pain all too apparent, her medal dream was shattered.

Gold medals at both the 2018 CWG and Asian Games were proof of her determination to get back on top, before the Indian wrestler decided to jump up to the 53kg category for the 2019 season.

Unfazed by the transition, she bagged a bronze at the Asian Wrestling Championships before clinching her maiden World Championships medal at Nur-Sultan in 2019 which secured her a place in the Tokyo Olympics.

In the Tokyo Olympics, she was seeded first in the women’s 53 kg and began with a win over Sweden’s Sofia Mattsson but lost her quarterfinals bout against Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya and could not progress further.