Getty Image / Punit Paranjbe
Wednesday was supposed to be the greatest day of Indian Women’s Freestyle Wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s life. But, it turned into a disaster.
She was set to wrestle American Sarah Hiledbrandt for a gold medal in Wednesday’s 50kg Women’s Freestyle Gold Medal Match. But, she missed weight in the morning, and not only couldn’t wrestle for gold, but was stripped of any medal at all.
Phogat, who normally wrestles at 53kg, ended up at 50kg for the Olympics, which gave her a tough cut. And, despite her best efforts, she could not get back down to that weight, which is roughly 110lbs.
Here’s what her camp had to say, according to Sports Star.
“Her normal weight is 57 kgs, and she did everything to get down to 50. She was 49.9 kg yesterday morning, but the moment she had even a small meal, her weight bounced back to at least 53 kg. She had to reach this weight to have the strength to fight in three bouts,” a member of her camp told Sportstar.
“After the semifinals last night, her weight was 52.7 kg. She didn’t sleep even a minute, didn’t drink a sip of water, and didn’t have a morsel of food. She spent the entire night running and using the sauna. She made it to 50.1 kg but didn’t have time to cut the last 100 grams. There was no leeway and no extra time to make weight,” the member added.
Sarah Hildebrandt ended up winning the gold medal for Team USA, given them their second gold medal in Women’s Freestyle Wrestling through the first two weight classes.
Early Thursday morning in Paris, Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement in heartbreaking fashion.
माँ कुश्ती मेरे से जीत गई मैं हार गई माफ़ करना आपका सपना मेरी हिम्मत सब टूट चुके इससे ज़्यादा ताक़त नहीं रही अब।
अलविदा कुश्ती 2001-2024 🙏
आप सबकी हमेशा ऋणी रहूँगी माफी 🙏🙏
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 7, 2024
The translation essentially says that her courage is all gone and her dream is ruined, and that she doesn’t have the strength to go on. Thus, she’s announcing her retirement.
All in all, a terrible way for a career to end.