In a shocking turn of events at the Paris Olympics, Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was ruled out of the gold medal contest in the women's 50 kg category for missing her second weigh-in on Wednesday.
This meant her all gold medal hopes were lost, and at the same time, it brought out the strict regime of weight followed at the Olympics.
Vinesh had some issues regarding her weight. She was feeling extreme pressure to meet the 50 kg limit. Sources say she went a little over by 100 grams.
Sources further add that on Tuesday, after her matches, the entire night Vinesh spent trying to meet the weight limit. She spent the time skipping and cycling and stretching herself.
Weigh-in procedures at the Olympics are much tighter than at most international events. Wrestlers must weigh in on the day of competition; if they advance to the next day in the finals or repechage, they must weigh in again.
The first weigh-in provides the wrestlers with 30 minutes to attain weight, whereas the second weigh-in allows them only 15 minutes without a grace period. Although almost every event of UWW has a 2 kg allowance on the prescribed weight, there is no allowance in the Olympics.
According to Article 11 of the UWW rulebook itself, in case of failure to satisfy the weight requirement, such athlete shall be eliminated and classified last, losing all advantages acquired from the results of the competition. That meant all the victories Vinesh had won earlier amounted to naught.
The rulebook reads:
In case of any changes in the final entries from the Athena entries—only in exceptional circumstances like an injury with a medical certificate—then an updated entry list shall be submitted to the organizer by the team leader one day before the weigh-in and competition of that weight category.
Changes beyond this date will not be allowed. Weigh in for respective weight category is conducted each morning for a duration of 30 minutes. During the second morning, only wrestlers participating in repechages and finals are expected to weigh in, with such weigh-in lasting 15 minutes.
The wrestlers must have undergone a successfully passed medical examination during the first morning and must be able to produce their license and accreditation during the time of weigh-in. Singlets are the only garment allowed, and there is no allowance in weight for the singlet.
Wrestlers must be fit and healthy, with very short fingernails. The wrestler may step on the scale as many times as he wants at the weigh in.
It's the duty of the weight-in referees to ensure that wrestlers adhere to the set weight and dress criteria.
Any wrestler who misses or fails one of the weigh-ins is out of the competition and placed last. Any athlete who could not compete due to an injury during the first day will not need to weigh in a second time and their result stood.
By the rules, Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, whom Vinesh had beaten in the semifinal, would take her place in the final.
"Vinesh failed the second-day weigh-in. As per Article 11 of the international wrestling rules, Yusneylis Guzman Lopez will take her place in the final," announced the organizers.
This disqualification will also have a bearing on the repechage rounds. Japanese wrestler Yui Susaki, who lost her first international bout to Vinesh, and Ukraine's Oksana Livach, who lost to Vinesh in the quarterfinal, will now compete for the bronze medal.
This has come as a big setback to Vinesh, who was on a stellar run in the Paris Olympics with her victories over top stars, setting her literally for gold. But the stringent weight regulations did not forgive; it ended her campaign there.
