Heartbreak in Paris: Vinesh misses date with history by a whisker

Vinesh Phogat, who had shaken the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and the sporting establishment through her protests against sexual harassment at the national capital’s Jantar Mantar last year, suffered a shocking reversal of fortunes at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday. 

The 29-year-old, a two-time bronze-medallist, was disqualified after being found overweight ahead of her women’s 50kg final on August 7, leaving her medal-less within hours of coming close to an unparalleled gold.

Vinesh had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in the event on August 6 night.

“She was found overweight by 100 gm this morning (August 7). The rules do not allow this and she has been disqualified,” said an Indian coach.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) later confirmed the development and requested privacy for the wrestler, who was competing in her third Olympics.

“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,” the IOA stated.

“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 on hand,” it added.

The disqualification means that Vinesh will return medal-less from the Games as international rules stipulate that any grappler found overweight at the time of weigh-in ends up at the bottom of the final standings.

She had taken down defending champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the first round on August 6 and was to face American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt in the summit bout this evening. Yui had not faced defeat in any of her previous 82 international bouts.

She then overcame her Ukrainian and Cuban opponents in the quarter-final and semi-final. 

Her impressive run showed her resolve and stubbornness. 

It’s her stubbornness that helped her survive intimidation, police detention, backlash over a protest that she was spearheading, and a smear campaign that sought to portray her in negative light even when she was punishing her body to fit into a lower weight class just to get a chance to fight for an Olympic spot.

Instead of sinking into despair, she unloaded on her detractors a torrent of angry responses, something that proved to be a blessing in disguise as she became India’s first woman wrestler to reach the finals of the Olympics after two failed attempts over 12 years.

The most eventful among these 12 years was 2023 when she took to the streets to protest against alleged sexual harassment of women grapplers by the then Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

All along that tumultuous phase, she was convinced that her fight was just and in that, she prevailed too.

Then, as she trained her sights on booking a ticket to the Paris Olympics, a new set of challenges stared her in the eye, as if telling her to leave the scene for good.

She had to drop down to 50kg after competing in 53kg for more than five years.

There were multiple problems with her trial bouts ahead of the Olympic qualifiers, and then there was also the small matter of going through a knee surgery, years after an anterior cruciate ligament tear at the 2016 Rio Olympics nearly ended her career.

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For the feisty wrestler from Haryana whose road to the French capital was always riddled with hurdles, a lot was at stake. Mere mortals would have caved in, but she didn’t.

Instead, she switched to top gear. It was a reflection of all the things that went into the making of Vinesh Phogat.

From battling opposition from the villagers who considered wrestling to be a man’s sport, losing her father at the age of just nine, to taking on powerful federation officials, Vinesh faced innumerable hardships on her way to realising her dreams.

“Believe and you can fly,” said wrestling’s world body while congratulating her on social media on August 6.

But just as her extraordinary journey, from the street protests of Delhi to the podium in Paris, was culminating in a historic medal, came the heartbreak. 

Despite that, her run is a perfect riposte to her detractors in the national federation who criticised her for her leading role in the prolonged protest against Brij Bhushan.