Vinesh Phogat: A Turbulent Wrestling Journey Ends With An Unsurprising Farewell In Paris

A mere 100 grams will be the heaviest baggage that the nation will carry from the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Regardless of what happens from now on, the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat for not meeting the weight requirement for the final of 50 kg wrestling bout will be the inevitable bookmark in India's chapter at the Paris Games.

A wrestler who looked set for a historic gold or silver seemed to have been tripped by a diabolic destiny. But a nation full of emotions has gone into a further overdrive.

One section is painting her as a victim of some shady backroom deception because she took on the former Indian wrestling federation boss. Another is trying to project her as a conspiratorial villain because, well, she took on the former Indian wrestling federation boss. 

Both the sections are unable to see what has transpired in Paris in the last 48 hours with dispassion. The surging tides of sentiments are clouding their vision. Phogat did not gain weight because she was any less diligent or dedicated.

She spearheading the protest against sex assault-accused Brij Bhushan — her raised hand of defiance stirred the collective conscience of the country — did not anyway affect her professional preparation for her wrestling bouts. On the other hand, there were also no sordid shenanigans that undid her campaign surreptitiously.

Not The First One To Be Disqualified For Weight At Paris

People who have been following the wrestling sport and covering it for long are convinced that Phogat's case was extremely unfortunate, but an insider sabotage is certainly not the cause.

Wrestlers gaining weight after intake of food post-bout is a regular thing. The two weigh-ins rule introduced after the Tokyo Olympics have put pressure on the wrestlers, who are always fighting to drop weight.

In the same Olympics, Italian wrestler Emanuela Liuzzi, in the same 50 kg classification, was excluded after she was found to be above the weight category. Her case was even worse. She had arrived in Paris after securing a last-minute spot for the Games about 10 days ago, following the withdrawal of North Korean Kim Sonhyang. 

Also, there was no hanky-panky in her having to compete in the 50 kg category even though she had participated in the Tokyo Games in 53 kg category. The fact is that  her compatriot Antim Panghal (she is also leaving the Games under a cloud, but that's another story) secured a slot for herself in the category by winning the bronze in the world championship last year.

Despite the thorny equation with the federation, Phogat was apparently given the leeway to have her own coach and dietician.  And despite the best efforts of all concerned in the contingent, Phogat couldn't drop those extra avoirdupois from her body.

Not every unfortunate happening has to have a fall guy on whom the blame could be affixed. It is evidently possible that what happened with Phogat could be a sporting incident, like a person suffering an injury in the field of play. 

Revealing the decision on X, she wrote, "Mom, wrestling has defeated me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream, my courage is all broken, I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I will “forever be indebted to all of you".

A Career Of Tumult And Tension

Vinesh Phogat, all through her chequered career, has been full of fervour. She was never afraid to wear her, often overwrought, feelings on the sleeve. 

In her first ever Olympics in Rio 2016 — she actually participated in the 48 kg then — Phogat ran into China's Sun Yanan in the quarters. In a bruising match, she suffered a knee injury, and had to be carried off the mat in a stretcher. It was among the most striking images from India's participation in that Olympics.

In 2021 at Tokyo, Phogat had moved to the 53 kg, and was actually the top-seed in the event. But she was out performed by Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya 9-2 in the quarter-finals.

Post the Games, she was again caught in a controversy. She was even suspended as she had reportedly refused to train with the rest of the team at the Games Village and did not wear the name of the official kit sponsor.

With her equanimity shattered, she, when just 24 then, talked of quitting. "My body is not broken, but I truly am. As an athlete, the mental pressure is so much that we’re always on a thin line. When it crosses, we are done," she told the Indian Express in an interview in which she unburdened all her inner perturbations.

Then happened that surcharged fight against the tainted Brij Bhushan and Phogat's protest and committed stance became the talking point of the nation, and her picture became the rousing point. 

The issue became so heated that her continuance in the sport was again under question. Phogat again proved her detractors wrong by coming back to the arena to success.  

But all those turmoil on and off the sport seems to have scarred her. Unfortunate as it was, it was also inevitable. And finally, an infinitesimal 100 grams has deprived her from cementing her place in sporting history of the nation.

From the precocious 20-year-old who spectacularly defeated home favourite Yana Rattigan to win the gold in 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games to an unceremonious exit in Paris 2024, Phogat always wrestled opponents and emotions. She often got the better of one. But another oftentimes pinned her down. 

She was all heart in a sport of muscle and power. Perhaps that was the extra weight she was carrying.