8 August, 2024: India’s top most female wrestler Vinesh Phogat has announced retirement a day after being disqualified from the Paris Olympics hours before her gold medal bout.
Vinesh announced her retirement from wrestling via a social media post on Thursday morning.”Mother wrestling wom against me,I lost…Your dreams and my courage are.shattered.Idonot have any more strength now.GoodbyeWrestling2001-2024.Iwill forever be indebted toallof you. Please forgive me”, a dejected Vignesh wrote on X.
The29 -year-old had become the first Indian female wrestler to reach the finals of the Olympics Games and assured herself at least a silver medal in women’s 50kg freestyle category. But she was found overweight in the mandatory weigh-in on the morning of her final bout and was disqualified from the event. After the heartbreak, she had to be taken to a polyclinic at the Games village owing to severe dehydration caused by her desperate measures to control weight.
Meanwhile, Vinesh has appealed against her disqualification in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) demanding that she be awarded a joint silver medal in her event. Reports say the matter will be taken up today.