No food, no water, no sleep: What happened to Vinesh Phogat after the semifinal bout at Paris Olympics

Vinesh Phogat suffered a massive heartbreak after her Olympic dreams were shattered due to disqualification at the Paris Olympics. On Wednesday, her weight was found to be approximately 100 grams higher than the allowed limit. She was disqualified from the Olympic women’s wrestling competition.

The Indian Olympic Association confirmed Vinesh’s disqualification, which means she will be unable to compete in Wednesday night’s 50kg women’s wrestling final and will not receive any medals. The most difficult aspect is that no appeal can be made against this decision.

What happened in the last 12 hours before the weigh-in?

Vinesh competed in the 50kg category for the first time, having previously competed in the 53kg weight category. According to Sportstar, a member of her camp revealed the distressing details of what happened over the past two days. They said, “Vinesh weighed 49.9kg yesterday morning, which is significantly below her normal weight range of around 57kg. She made a huge effort to keep her weight down to 50kg. However, maintaining that weight on the second day was almost impossible. The moment she had even a small meal, her weight would jump to at least 53kg. She needed to do this to have the strength to fight three bouts. She weighed 52.7kg after the semifinals last night. Since then, she did not consume any water or food, and she also did not sleep. The team ran a sauna all night and managed to get her weight down to 50.1kg by morning. However, there was no time left to cut down the excess weight.”

IOA on Vinesh

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said on Monday, “It is extremely regrettable that Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the 50kg category of women’s wrestling due to excess weight. Despite all efforts, her weight was found to be a few grams over the 50kg limit during the morning weigh-in.”