News Brief
Kuldeep Negi
Aug 07, 2024, 12:25 PM | Updated 12:25 PM IST
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India's hopes for a Gold medal suffered a significant setback as Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the women's 50 kg wrestling final at the Paris Olympics.
The 29-year-old was ruled ineligible to compete after being found 100 grams overweight during the weigh-in on the day of the final.
Despite the best efforts from VInesh Phogat's team on Tuesday night, the wrester missed the weight on Wednesday (7 August).
"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 Indian Olympic Association said in a statement, India Today reported.
Vinesh Phogat began her Paris Olympics campaign with a spectacular performance, defeating the reigning world champion, Japan’s Yui Susaki, in the first round of the Women’s 50 kg Freestyle event.
Her win also marked a historic first loss in international circuits for the top-seeded Japanese Susaki, who did not concede a single-point enroute to her hold during the Tokyo Games in 2020.
Kuldeep is Senior Editor (Newsroom) at Swarajya. He tweets at @kaydnegi.