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The Paris Olympics 2024 could be the last for Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat as per fellow wre stling great Bajrang Punia. Phogat was at the top of the world as she entered the final of the women's 50 kg freestyle wrestling event at the Summer Games in Paris. In this run to the Gold Medal match, the Indian took down the defending Olympic champ and some other world-class competitors.
But on August 7, the 29-year-old and the Indian sporting community were in shock as Vinesh Phogat was disqualified as she couldn't make weight despite her best efforts. With this decision, it could be the last we have seen the 2022 Commonwealth Gold medallist in the Olympics.
Punia reveals Phogat's decision on her future ahead of Paris 2024
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, Bajrang Punia revealed this possibility. Speaking to ESPN, Punia said, "She told me "I am fighting for the future generation of wrestlers. Not for myself, my career is done and this is my last Olympics. I want to fight for the young women wrestlers who will come and fight for them so that they can wrestle safely. That's why I was in Jantar Mantar, and that's why I am here."
We had tried all the drastic weight-cut measures: Dinshaw Pardiwala
Speaking about Vinesh Phogat's disqualification, the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian Contingent in Paris, Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, shared how the team made all efforts to get the weight down. Pardiwala said, "We had tried all the drastic weight-cut measures through the night including cutting her hair, shortening her clothes, despite all of this we could not make that 50 kg weight category."
“We found that her post-participation weight was increased more than normal and the coach initiated the normal process of weight cut, that he’s always employed with Vinesh. This is something that’s worked with her for a long period of time. He felt confident that this would be achieved and over the night, we went ahead with the weight-cut procedure. However, in the morning we found that despite all of our efforts, her weight was 100 grams over her 50 kg weight category. Hence, she was disqualified,” Pardiwala added.
