PARIS – Indian wrestler who failed to make the weight class to compete for a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics has abruptly announced her retirement.
Vinesh Phogat, who would have become the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in wrestling, announced in emotional post on social media She will be stepping away from the sport. The news comes less than 24 hours after she took dramatic steps to lose weight, including cutting her hair, but she lost about 0.2 pounds over the maximum allowed in her category.
In a letter written in Hindi, Posted on XFugate, formerly known as Twitter, bid farewell to her wrestling career and also asked for forgiveness.
“Mom, wrestling beat me, I lost,” she wrote in the post. According to the translation published by the Hindustan Timesan English-language newspaper based in Delhi.
“Your dreams and my courage have been shattered. I have no strength left now.”
Phogat, 29, a three-time Olympian, is one of India’s most popular female wrestlers, especially after her public outcry in protests against the country’s former wrestling federation chief, who was accused of sexual harassment. She was one of several female wrestlers in India who called for criminal charges to be brought against the official, Brij Bhushan Charan Singh, who was ousted from his post last year.
Phogat has won two bronze medals at world championships over the past five years as well as the Asian Championships in 2021, all in the 53kg weight class. However, in Paris, she dropped to 50kg – and her first day of competition was not the smoothest.
Fugate began Tuesday with a stunning win over Yui Susaki, the Japanese wrestler who never lost a match against international competition and won gold at the Tokyo Games without dropping a point. She then narrowly beat Oksana Levash of Ukraine and beat Yusnelis Guzman of Cuba to advance to the gold medal match against Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States.
But by the end of that first day, Phogat had gained about 6 pounds, according to Indian news reports. The Indian Olympic Committee said she spent all night sweating in a sauna and exercising, while restricting food and water intake, in an attempt to reduce her weight to 50 kilograms by Wednesday morning.
As a last resort, she cut her hair. But that wasn’t enough, and the agency said she was later taken to hospital for possible dehydration.
“After three tough matches against world-class competitors, no athlete should have to spend all night preparing to win a gold medal this way,” said NBC commentator and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs. Written on X.
Under international wrestling rules, Phogat was not only disqualified from the gold medal match, but was technically moved to last place among 16 women. The situation sparked widespread sympathy and angry protests in India, with politicians publicly urging sports officials to challenge her exclusion.
Officials from the World Wrestling Federation told Indian media that nothing could be done. Although several of the same outlets reported that Phogat had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, asking a panel of arbitrators to award her the silver medal. A CAS spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email requesting further information, but such an appeal appears unlikely to succeed.
Contributed by: Reuters
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on social media. @Tom_Shad.