Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the gold medal match in the 50 kg women’s wrestling category because she was over the weight limit by 100 grams.
**In Short:**
– Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the wrestling final at the Olympics on Wednesday.
– She has appealed for the silver medal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
– Vinesh was the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final.
– On Thursday, Vinesh announced her retirement, a day after being disqualified from the 50 kg women’s wrestling gold medal match for being overweight by 100 grams.
– In a post on X (formerly Twitter) in Hindi, she expressed her feelings: “Ma Kusti (Wrestling) won against me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream and my courage have been broken. I don’t have any more strength now.”
**Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024**
Vinesh Phogat, the renowned Indian wrestler, announced her retirement on Thursday, following her disqualification from the 2024 Olympic final. She was disqualified from the gold medal match in the 50 kg women’s wrestling category for being 100 grams overweight.
Vinesh had won her semi-final bout decisively with a score of 5-0 and was the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final. In her retirement post on X (formerly Twitter), she said, “Ma Kusti (Wrestling) won against me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream and my courage have been broken. I don’t have any more strength now.” She also included the message: “Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024.”
Following her disqualification, Vinesh has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), requesting to be awarded the silver medal.
The 29-year-old from Haryana is a three-time Olympian, having competed in three different weight categories across three Olympic Games:
– 48 kg in Rio 2016
– 53 kg in Tokyo 2020
– 50 kg in Paris 2024
In addition to her Olympic achievements, Vinesh has won gold medals in three Commonwealth Games (2014, 2018, and 2022) in three different weight categories. She was also the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold at both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in the same year (2018). Furthermore, she earned bronze medals at the World Wrestling Championships in 2019 and 2022.
