Vinesh endures crushing end in Paris as cruel fate strikes Indian wrestler again

In all her years as a wrestler, Vinesh Phogat’s toughest opponent has been her luck.
Wednesday morning, hours before she would take the floor for a long-awaited gold medal in wrestling, she was disqualified from the Paris Olympics for not meeting the weight requirement in the 50kg final against Sarah Hildebrandt. Missing the weight by just a few grams meant she would leave the Games without a medal despite her promising run to the final.
This latest disappointment adds to a series of unfortunate events in Phogat’s career.
Her Olympic journey started in Rio 2016 with a severe injury in the quarterfinals against China’s Sun Yanan, resulting in an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in her right knee, which required surgery and extensive rehabilitation.
She made a strong comeback in 2018, but her bad luck persisted at the Tokyo Olympics. As the top seed in the 53kg category, she won her opening match but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya. Subsequently, she faced disciplinary action from the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), though the suspension was later revoked.
Phogat’s resilience saw her return to competition, winning a bronze at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade and gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. However, she underwent twin elbow surgeries, the first in 2021 and another in June 2023. These setbacks didn’t deter her spirit either, as she continued to train rigorously.
Preparing for the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Phogat suffered another knee injury, this time a complete ACL tear and a partial lateral collateral ligament tear in her left leg, which again required surgery and dashed her hopes of competing.
Phogat showed remarkable determination at the Paris Olympics by reaching the final, defeating top-seed Yui Susaki of Japan, former European champion Oksana Livach, and reigning Pan American Games champion Yusneylis Guzman.
However, her journey was cut short by her failure to meet the weight requirement for the final match. This rule stipulates that wrestlers must meet weight requirements twice, and although Phogat was within the limit initially, she could not maintain it after replenishing post-matches.
The Indian Olympic Association expressed regret over her disqualification, emphasizing the narrow margin by which she missed the weight:
“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 IOA wrote in a statement.