Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from competition and will lose her Olympic medal after failing the weigh-in for the 50kg final event on Wednesday morning. Vinesh was to face USA's Sarah Hilderbrandt in the final this evening, but she was above the permissible weight limit by 100 grams.
INDIA'S OLYMPIC MEDAL TALLY | INDIA AT PARIS OLYMPICS | LATEST OLYMPIC NEWS | KEY DATES AT PARIS 2024
Under the rules, wrestlers have to show weight twice: on the morning of the preliminary rounds and the morning of the final. Vinesh was within the permissible weight limit of 50kgs on Tuesday morning. Her weight is likely to have increased through the day as she replenished herself after three bouts and it is understood she had to lose about 2kgs overnight. She was seen skipping in a sweat suit last evening after her semifinal bout and is learnt to have worked on it all night, but was overweight by 100 grams at the weigh in this morning.
Explained: Why was Vinesh Phogat disqualified from Paris Olympics? How does wrestling weigh-in work?
Article 11 of the United World Wrestling's rule book says an athlete who doesn't make the weight cut will be eliminated from the competition. "If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he will be eliminated of the competition and ranked last, without rank."
This means Vinesh will also lose her medal since she has been disqualified.
"Vinesh failed second day weigh-in. According to the article 11 of the International Wrestling Rules, Vinesh (IND) will be replaced by the wrestler who lost against her in the Semifinal. Therefore Yusneylis Guzman Lopez (CUB) will compete in the Final," the Paris Games organising committee said in a statement.
The IOA, in its statement, said: "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: Indian Olympic Association."