In an unexpected development just hours before her historic gold medal bout, Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the women's freestyle 50kg wrestling competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics after being found overweight on the morning of the event.
Phogat, who had made history as the first Indian female grappler to reach an Olympic final, was found to be 100 grams over the weight limit during the official weigh-in on the morning of the final.
Phogat was set to compete against USA's Sarah Hildebrandt in the 50kg freestyle gold medal match on Wednesday. As per the recent update, Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez will replace Phogat in the wrestling final against Hildebrandt.
Guzman was scheduled to take on Mongolia's Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal in the bronze medal match after she was defeated by the Indian grappler in the semifinal match by 5-0.
What do the rules say?
The weigh-in process is vital in wrestling and comes within the ambit of the International Wrestling Rules of United World Wrestling (UWW). Wrestlers, boxers, and combat sport athletes compete in specific weight categories with strict rules preventing athletes above the designated weight from participating in those competitions.
This ensures that heavy weight athletes do not compete against lighter ones. However, it is common in combat sports for heavy weight athletes to cut weight, rapidly losing a set number of kilos before the competition.
As per Chapter 3, Article 11 of the wrestling rules, the first weigh-in for all competitions is conducted each morning of the relevant weight category. The weigh-in and medical control process lasts 30 minutes.
It further states, "The second morning of the concerned weight category only the wrestlers who participate in the repechages and finals have to come for the weigh-in. This weigh-in will last 15 minutes.”
Article 8 of the rulebook states that during the second weigh-in, no additional weight tolerance is permitted beyond the official weight limit. It adds, "2kg weight tolerance is allowed for World Cup and for the International Tournaments (Except UWW Ranking Events)."
Vinesh was within the permissible weight limit of 50 kgs on Tuesday morning. Her weight is likely to have increased through the day which led to her disqualification.
Regarding the athletes who do not make the weight cut, the UWW rules read, "If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), they will be eliminated from the competition and ranked last, without rank."
Has it happened before?
There have been instances previously where athletes have been disqualified on similar ground as Phogat. Serbia's Stevan Mićić was disqualified from the Men's Freestyle 57kg in Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 which happened in 2021. Weighing naturally at 61 kg, the Serbian athlete struggled with the weight-cutting process, resulting in his body suffering.
In a similar incident, Italy's Emanuela Liuzzi was forced to withdraw from the competition's preliminary bout after being found overweight. The 24-year-old had recently arrived in Paris, securing her Olympic spot just ten days earlier following the withdrawal of North Korea's Kim Sonhyang. Liuzzi was set to make her debut in the 50kg freestyle wrestling category.
Similar to the process in freestyle wrestling, Judo also requires a weigh-in. Algeria's Messaoud Redouane was set to compete against Israel's Tohar Butbul at the Paris Olympics but was disqualified before the bout on July 29, according to the International Judo Federation.