Paris Olympics: Indian wrestler disqualified from gold medal match in women's 50kg after missing weight
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When an athlete makes a gold medal match at the Olympics, a silver medal is typically seen as a happy worst-case scenario. It wound up being much worse for India's Vinesh Phogat.
Phogat, who defeated Cuba's Yusneylys Guzmán 5-0 in the semifinal on Tuesday, was eliminated from the women's 50kg wrestling tournament on Thursday morning when she failed her second weigh-in, the Olympics announced. Phogat had been set to face Team USA's Sarah Hildebrandt for gold on Wednesday, the first time a female Indian would have ever competed in an Olympic wrestling final.
The extra weight won't just cost Phogat the first wrestling gold medal in India's history. United World Wrestling's rules explain that when a wrestler doesn't make weight on the second weigh-in, they are eliminated from the tournament and are basically ranked last, unless someone is forced to withdraw on the first day of competition.
So Phogat will leave Paris without a medal. You can see the official Olympic bracket with Phogat's name crossed out here.
Vinesh Phogat hospitalized after brutal weight cut
Missing out on an Olympic medal is bad enough, but the Indian delegation's efforts to get Phogat under weight were reportedly brutal.
According to India's Sportstar, Phogat went without food and water the night before the match, with her staff eventually resorting to cutting her hair and drawing blood. Even after that miserable process, they couldn't get the last 100 grams she needed:
“Her normal weight is 57 kgs, and she did everything to get down to 50. She was 49.9 kg yesterday morning, but the moment she had even a small meal, her weight bounced back to at least 53 kg. She had to reach this weight to have the strength to fight in three bouts,” a member of her camp told Sportstar.
“After the semifinals last night, her weight was 52.7 kg. She didn’t sleep even a minute, didn’t drink a sip of water, and didn’t have a morsel of food. She spent the entire night running and using the sauna. She made it to 50.1 kg but didn’t have time to cut the last 100 grams. There was no leeway and no extra time to make weight,” the member added.
Per India Today, Phogat fainted due to dehydration after the unsuccessful weigh-in and had to be hospitalized.
Team USA's Sarah Hildebrandt won't win gold by default
Meanwhile, Hildebrandt won't win gold by default. She will instead face the woman Phogat defeated in the semifinal, Cuba's Yusneylys Guzmán.
Guzmán was previously set to compete in a bronze medal match against the winner of a repechage, but that repechage between Japan's Susaki Yui and Ukraine's Oksana Livach, both of whom Phogat also defeated, will instead become one of the two bronze medal matches.
Olympic wrestling tournaments usually hold two repechages with the winners facing the semifinal losers for a bronze medal. Combat sports are unique in that they offer multiple bronze medals rather than a true bronze medal match.
Hildebrandt, seeded sixth in the tournament, won bronze in the event in Tokyo and is a four-time medalist in the world championships, but without a gold.
