A day after she was disqualified from the Paris Olympics 2024, India’s ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat announced retirement from the sport. Visibly distraught Vinesh, who stood at the cusp of a gold medal in the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling, announced her retirement after being heartbroken when she exceeded her weight by 100 gms during the morning weigh in on Wednesday.
Taking to X, the ace wrestler wrote,”Wrestling won match against me, I lost… Your dreams and my courage are shattered. I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024. I will forever be indebted to all of you. Sorry”.
माँ कुश्ती मेरे से जीत गई मैं हार गई माफ़ करना आपका सपना मेरी हिम्मत सब टूट चुके इससे ज़्यादा ताक़त नहीं रही अब।
अलविदा कुश्ती 2001-2024 🙏
आप सबकी हमेशा ऋणी रहूँगी माफी 🙏🙏
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 7, 2024
After losing to Vinesh in the semifinals, Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, a wrestler from Cuba, took her spot in the championship match against Sarah Ann Hildebrandt, an American. Later on, Hildebrandt took home the gold medal.
According to reports, Vinesh spent the day in a polyclinic within the Games village due to extreme dehydration brought on by her attempts to lose weight.
