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Vinesh Phogat announces retirement from wrestling in heartbreaking post following Paris Olympics 2024 disqualification
On Thursday, India's Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling on social media after being disqualified from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling following her disqualification from Olympics
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Vinesh Phogat failed to match the required weight for the gold medal match on Wednesday
Vinesh Phogat, devastated by her disqualification from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, announced her retirement from wrestling. The wrestler announced the news on her social media on Thursday morning. The 29-year-old was disqualified for being 100 grams overweight right before her 50kg category gold medal bout on Wednesday.
Vinesh protested her disqualification at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In the social media post, Vinesh expressed that wrestling had won against her, shattering all of her courage to continue. She wrote, "Ma, wrestling has won, I have lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my courage, everything is broken."
Phogat was to face American Sarah Hildebrandt in the finals. Even though Phogat, 29, starved herself and spent hours in the sauna to get down to her competition weight, she was still 100 grams over the weight. Due to extreme dehydration brought on by her desperate attempts to lose weight—she spent a significant time of the day at a polyclinic inside the Games village.
Phogat was replaced in the final by Yusneylys Guzman Lopez of Cuba, and Hildebrandt triumphed 3-0 to win the gold. In her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Vinesh requests a joint silver medal for the tournament. Today, an announcement regarding the same will be made.
Haryana's Vinesh is a three-time Olympian who competed in three different weight divisions during the three Games. Vinesh competed in the 53 kg weight class at the Tokyo Games, while she competed in the 48 kg division in the 2016 Rio Olympics. In three different weight categories, she won three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
In 2018, Vinesh made history by being the first female wrestler from India to win a gold medal at both the Asian and Commonwealth Games. Additionally, in 2019 and 2022, she took home two bronze medals from the World Wrestling Championships.
