In what comes as a shocking reversal of fortunes, Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified on Wednesday, August 7 from the ongoing Paris Olympics after being found overweight of 100gms ahead of her women's 50kg final, leaving her medal-less within hours of coming close to an unparalleled gold. (Medal Table | Schedule & Results | Full Coverage)
On Tuesday, Vinesh had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in her category on Tuesday night. Before this morning, she was assured of at least a silver medal but will now be coming back empty-handed due to the disqualification.
"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," the IOA stated.
"No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you to respect Vinesh's privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand," it added.
The bronze medals will be decided via two separate bouts that sees the losing semi-finalist taking on a wrestler who progressed through the repechage rounds.
Phogat was scheduled to take on American Sarah Hildebrandt in the final. Hildebrandt will now fight Yusneylis Guzman, who lost the the Indian in the semi-final, for the gold medal. Yui Susaki of Japan and Oksana Livach of Ukraine will compete for bronze.
