What is weigh-in wrestling that disqualified Vinesh Phogat and cost India a historic Olympic medal?
Why was Vinesh Phogat disqualified from Paris Olympics and stripped of a historic wrestling medal? Here's a full explainer of the wrestling rules for weigh-in.
In the cruellest turn of events hours before her historic gold medal bout, Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the women's freestyle 50kg wrestling competition at the Paris Olympics 2024 after she was found overweight on the morning of the event. According to international wrestling competition rules reserved by the parent body, United World Wrestling (UWW), if a wrestler fails the weigh-in test before the competition, he/she is immediately disqualified and given the last spot. That means Vinesh won't be eligible for any medal despite reaching the finals of the event. She would have won silver even if she had lost the final.
The UWW technical delegate said the repechage round between Japanese Yui Susako and Ukrainian Oksana Livach will become the bronze medal match. “Vinesh failed [the] second-day weigh-in. According to article 11 of the International Wrestling Rules, Vinesh will be replaced by the wrestler who lost against her in the semi-final,” the delegate said in a statement. “Therefore, Guzman Lopez Yusneylis will compete in the final. Repechage Susaki Yui vs Livach Oksana will become a bronze medal match.”
The UWW rules about failing the weigh-in test state, “If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he/she will be eliminated from the competition and ranked last, without rank.”
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While confirming the news, the Indian Olympic Association did not delve into the details of the weight mismatch, but multiple reports claim Vinesh was 100-150 grams overweight on Wednesday morning.
Vinesh, who has historically struggled to meet the weight limits even before, just met the 50kg upper limit on Tuesday morning. She won three bouts, one including the four-time world champion and the Tokyo gold medalist Yui Susaki of Japan, to become the first Indian female wrestler to enter the finals at the Olympics (in any weight category), failed the weigh-in test on Wednesday morning.
Why Vinesh Phogat was disqualified? Here's what UWW rules about weigh-in before every international wrestling competition
According to Chapter 3, Article 11 of the wrestling rules: “For all competitions, the weigh-in is organized each morning of the concerned weight-category. The weigh-in and the medical control lasts 30 minutes. 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.”
This means Vinesh, her gold medal competitor, USA's Sarah Hildebrandt, and the repechage winners were weighed in for the second time before their medal matches on Wednesday morning. Vinesh failed this test after she was found overweight.
"Wrestlers must appear at the medical examination and the weigh-in with their license and accreditation.
The only uniform allowed for the weigh-in is the singlet. After having been examined by qualified physicians who are obliged to eliminate any wrestler who presents any danger of contagious disease, the wrestler can be weighed in. No weight tolerance will be allowed for the singlet.
Contestants must be in perfect physical condition, with their fingernails cut very short. Throughout the entire weigh-in period, wrestlers have the right, each in turn, to get on the scale as many times as they wish.
The referees responsible for the weigh-in must check that all wrestlers are of the weight corresponding to the
category in which they are entered for the competition, that they fulfil all the requirements… and to inform any wrestler of the risk he runs if he presents himself on the mat in incorrect dress. Referees will refuse to weigh a wrestler who is not dressed correctly.