Vinesh Phogat has been dealt a serious blow to India’s hopes of taking home a gold medal in the 50 kg category. The 29-year-old was discovered to be 150 grams overweight during the weigh-in on the day of the final, making her unable to compete on the second day.
She will not be awarded any medals in the Olympics in Paris. The wrestler failed to make the weight on Wednesday even though Vinesh Phogat’s crew gave it their all on Tuesday night. The global wrestling body has stated that a wrestler will finish last if they miss the weight.
RULES OF WEIGH INS IN COMBAT SPORTS:
Timing of Weigh-In: Wrestlers are required to weigh in the afternoon or evening of the day before to their competition. In multi-day competitions, wrestlers are required to weigh in on each day of competition.
Weight Categories: Wrestlers are not allowed to weigh more than the allowed amount inside their designated weight category. They have to weigh no more than the precise amounts allowed for their class.
Wrestlers are required to weigh in solely with their competition-approved underwear, which is typically a singlet. To guarantee an exact weight measurement, no extra apparel or accessories are permitted.
Medical Examination: To ensure that wrestlers are fit for competition, a medical examination is performed on them after the weigh-in. Assessments for any possible health hazards or ailments that can impair their competition performance or safety are part of this checkup.
Could Vinesh Phogat have made weight under any circumstances?
The short answer to this question is yes. She only missed weight by 150 grams but she was cutting down from 2 Kilograms and that could be considered a brutal cut in combat sports. However, it’s not unheard of.
Last month UFC flyweight fighter, Tracy Cortez missed weight by 250 grams, but she managed to make the weight for her fight against Rose Namajunas by cutting off her hair.
Tracy Cortez had to chop off some hair and shed some tears, but she hit 126 pounds for the #UFCDenver main event vs. Rose Namajunas. 💇♀️
🎥 @UFC pic.twitter.com/RIGCcn9ivO
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 12, 2024
How do elite combat sports athlete cut weight?
Fighters primarily lose so much weight quickly by keeping themselves dehydrated throughout their cut. Since 60% of our body weight is made up of water, eliminating it is crucial to reducing weight both quickly and temporarily. To get the finest results, fighters also stay away from salt and carbohydrates.
Fighters often lose 6 to 9 kg’s on average. Cutting is dangerous and if done poorly, can cause serious harm to the body. Combatants have access to a wide range of dietary resources and medical professionals to help them practice safety and wrestlers with the caliber of Vinesh Phogat have access to some of the world’s best professionals. However things can go wrong with even the most elite athletes as former UFC middleweights champion Weidman details how he suffered a near-death experience with weight cutting.
Vinesh’s weight miss will be brutal to India’s medal tally as a Gold or a Silver medal would have assured us a multiple jumps in the global medal rankings. As senior journalist, Shekhar Gupta put it, this is a massive management disaster.
Vinesh Phogat disqualification on the verge of a gold & a sealed silver is a national sporting tragedy. Shocking failure also by team, contingent bosses & coach. Wrestlers’ weight management issues when fighting on consecutive days are well known. It’s a management disaster.
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) August 7, 2024
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