The Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was supposed to go for gold Wednesday night. Instead, the female wrestler has lost her shot to compete against American Sarah Hildebrandt in the 50-kilogram weight class final over a few grams. The Indian Olympic Association said early Wednesday on X that, "despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50 kilograms this morning. No further comments will be made." Hildebrandt will now wrestle Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to Phogat in the semifinal.
ESPN reports Phogat was reportedly about 100 grams—or 3.5 ounces—north of the 50-kilogram cutoff. (Read ESPN's piece in full for more on what's involved in a weight cut, in which athletes push to make weight before being weighed in. In the piece, a wrestler reflects on how Phogat subsisted on just a small amount of water for three days before the weigh-in at the Rio Olympics.) The AP reports the twist came after Phogat "had been seemingly unbeatable on the mat."
In a stunner of a first match, Phogat beat four-time world and defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan without conceding a point, then bested both Guzman Lopez and Ukraine's Oksana Livach. Her previous bests were ninth at the previous Olympics and third at a world championship.
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It's not the first headline-grabbing moment for Phogat, who the New York Times reports "became one of the faces of high-profile protests" last year when she and two other Indian wrestlers accused the head of India's wrestling federation of sexual harassment. The group staged a number of protests and threatened to toss their medals into the Ganges. (More 2024 Paris Olympics stories.)
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