On Wednesday, Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Olympics final after the celebrated sports icon was found 100 grams overweight at the weigh-in. The Indian Olympics Association delivered the sad news to India. "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 IOA said in a statement.
National media reports today said that Vinesh was working non-stop all through the night to shed 2kg weight. She is dehydrated and has required hospitalization. The physical exertion evidently took a toll on her.
Commentators have described the turn of events as a national tragedy. "Vinesh Phogat's disqualification on the verge of a gold and a sealed silver is a national sporting tragedy. Shocking failure also by the team, contingent bosses and her coach. Wrestlers’ weight management issues when fighting on consecutive days are well known. It’s a management disaster," wrote journalist Shekar Gupta.
Mahavir Phogat, speaking to a Hindi TV channel, said that being overweight results in disqualification as per the rule book.
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