From becoming the first ever Indian female grappler to reach the finals of an Olympic wrestling event to being disqualified, all in a few hours, Vinesh Phogat has had an eventful tournament in Paris. After a day of heartbreak, which saw her being placed last, as she missed the weight mark in the 50 kg division on the morning of the gold medal bout, Vinesh has announced her retirement from the sport.
She announced her decision on X, where she left a note in Hindi, bidding farewell to wrestling.
“Wrestling won the match against me, I lost… my courage is all broken, I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to you all,” the translation of her tweet in English read.
माँ कुश्ती मेरे से जीत गई मैं हार गई माफ़ करना आपका सपना मेरी हिम्मत सब टूट चुके इससे ज़्यादा ताक़त नहीं रही अब।
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 7, 2024
अलविदा कुश्ती 2001-2024 🙏
आप सबकी हमेशा ऋणी रहूँगी माफी 🙏🙏
As per reports, Vinesh weighed 100 grams more than the 50 kilograms cutoff on Wednesday, which led to her disqualification.
Vinesh Phogat’s Paris Olympics journey
Phogat started the campaign with a stunning win over the world number 1 and defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan.
She followed it up with two more tactically brilliant wins over Oksana Vasylivna Livach of Ukraine and Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman.
She was set to face Sarah Hildebrandt in the final, a wrestler she has previously bested.
