[kiranknair]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

100 grams overweight! I feel it's too harsh. A glass of water will add more than 100 grams to a person's weight! Is there a buffer given to the weight or the weight has to be on dot?

Weight has to be max of 50 kg. In other words 5 gms extra is disqualified.

There was one way to overcome this. She could have refused to go to the weighing stating that she is unwell. That way she would have still got a silver. I am sure that the team would have been carrying weighing machines and they could have just done this.

Once, you take a measurement and if you are found to be overweight, the rule says that you are disqualified.

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

100 grams overweight!

Not sure if this is true or media wants to garner some eyeballs, this is what the international wrestling rules says. However, it's super disappointing to miss on the medal for such a thing.

The medical control and a first weigh-in will be held the morning of the concerned weight category. The qualified athletes for the finals and repechages will be weigh-in again the second morning of the concerned weight category. No more weight tolerance will be allowed for the second weigh-in.

2kg weight tolerance is allowed for World Cup and for the International Tournaments (Except UWW Ranking Events).

[SideSwipe]

Originally Posted by saket77

Heartbreak for India as Vinesh Fogat is disqualified due to weight. The disqualification means not only hopes of gold are now gone, she will probably not be holding the silver too.

https://sports.ndtv.com/olympics-202...ndtv_topscroll

Indeed an heartbreak and i root for Vinesh, but i fail to understand why were we not prepared. I know i may sound cruel, but when we are competing at such high standards, we should be in a situation to foresee and plan accordingly.

I know many body builders who would plan for their weights days in advance.

Didnt we have a simple weighing scale inhouse to plan. 100gms am sure we should have shed if we had planned even hours before.

Did we take the governance lightly?

In my honest opinion humble knowledge, we just threw away a great opportunity and recognition by not planning properly.

[balenoed_]

Why on earth was she at the borderline in first place. How can she and the whole team that might include doctors, dieticians, coaches etc oversee such a basic requirement and mess with it and get disqualified for such a silly thing. This is going to be garnering lot of attention and debates back here.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Why on earth was she at the borderline in first place. How can she and the whole team that might include doctors, dieticians, coaches etc oversee such a basic requirement and mess with it and get disqualified for such a silly thing. This is going to be garnering lot of attention and debates back here.

As per the article

Vinesh usually competes in the 53kg category but brought her weight down to 50kg for the Paris Olympics.

So she had already shed some Kgs and the plan was always to be borderline. This was just bad luck or a mistake from the team.

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Overweight so cannot participate in the final game - Fine if one goes by the rule book.
But if she was under 50 kg yesterday, and she beat the Bronze medal winners fair and square with a legit win, then why out of medal contention?

Why isnt Silver awarded to the player then?

[rx100]

Originally Posted by kiranknair

Weight has to be max of 50 kg. In other words 5 gms extra is disqualified.

There was one way to overcome this. She could have refused to go to the weighing stating that she is unwell. That way she would have still got a silver.

That wouldn’t work, if she skips the weighing procedure that’s a direct disqualification.

[Anki_252hp]

What an unfortunate event. Yesterday was almost the happiest day for Indians in the Olympics, except for the loss in the Hockey Semi-final, but it turned out to be the saddest day.

To rub salt in the wound, even her previous fights are now considered null and void, despite her winning those fair and square. She looked like a wounded lioness and could have beaten the US wrestler by a great margin.

[fordday]

Originally Posted by rx100

That wouldn’t work, if she skips the weighing procedure that’s a direct disqualification.

What would have happened if she is really unwell? Will she forfeit the match and get the silver?

[ads11]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

100 grams overweight! I feel it's too harsh. A glass of water will add more than 100 grams to a person's weight! Is there a buffer given to the weight or the weight has to be on dot?

If you follow combat sports, say MMA for eg, you'll know that there is both a ceremonial weigh in but an actual weigh the night prior to the fight. And at this stage you'll be surprised to see fighters look gaunt and emaciated and that's because in the build up to the weigh in many fighters do a weight cut or more colloquially referred to simply as the cut. If you look up some UFC Embedded video blogs for the build up to their marquee events you'll see fighters in steam rooms wearing heavy sweatshirts and sweat pants and towels on top of that to extract as much water weight as possible. It's actually quite a precarious technique because done incorrectly it can have awful consequences for fighters. Some quite literally have to pull out of the fight due to extreme cuts gone awry.


Behold the infamous images of Conor McGregor making the cut down to featherweight (145 lbs = 66 kg), far below his natural healthy weight class
https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc/comment...herweight_was/

Immediately after the weigh in you'll see fighters down gallons of fluid and lo and behold the next day they look like they've ballooned compared to the night before.

Here's an explainer from Jackson Wink (a reputed MMA trainer): https://jacksonwink.com/news/the-wei...f-ufc-fighters

Now I imagine such extreme weight cuts are less de rigeur for other combat sports such as wrestling but typically a fighter missing weight is a lack of professionalism on their part and their team. It's tough to take for Phogat but that's just how it'll be viewed by any combat sports community.

[ABHI_1512]

There are too many questions arising out of the disqualification. That Vinesh will have to stay inside the weight limits was well known beforehand. She usually competed in the 53 kg category but was shifted to 50 kg category by the federation. Either the team with Vinesh was very ignorant or perhaps never expected Vinesh to reach the finals. Since it’s a well known fact that athletes have to take the weigh-in twice inside two days and have to be inside the category.

Some reports say that the team worked through the night to bring her weight down. Even to the extent of not drinking any water or food, some say she was put through hours of sauna bath to get rid off the extra weight and that she did not sleep for the entire night. Now, hypothetically, if she had got past the weigh- in technicality, how was she supposed to fight for the gold medal match in such state ?

Some things don’t add up at all ! The team surely knew that failing the weigh-in would result in disqualification, then they could have said that Vinesh had a muscle pull or that she is injured. Injured players still qualify for the medals at least. That she was dehydrated and had to be hospitalised is now known. Why not do that before and at least assure the medal ? Don’t know but at least there should have been a way out from this. IOA came out with the statement about disqualification and we did not get to see Vinesh Phogat at all. I would really wait to hear from her, whenever she can, about this disqualification.

All in all, a very very sad day for Indian Sports.

[AltoLXI]

There will be no silver awarded in any case.

As a consequence of Phogat's disqualification, she will not be eligible for any medal. According to the rules of the Olympics, she will now be placed at the last position in the women's 50 kg freestyle wrestling category. This essentially means that her scheduled opponent in the finals Sarah Hildebrandt will be handed the gold medal without any match, as per Economic Times. In such an event only gold and bronze medal winners would be there in the 50 kg category in the Paris Olympics. No silver medal would then be awarded in such a case. It has now, however, been reported that Guzman Lopez, who Phogat beat in the semis will be contesting the finals.

Link

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Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Some reports say that the team worked through the night to bring her weight down. Even to the extent of not drinking any water or food, some say she was put through hours of sauna bath to get rid off the extra weight and that she did not sleep for the entire night.

Yep, all of this is in line with what I'd expect for a fighter having to utilise all the usual tools to make weight.

Now, hypothetically, if she had got past the weigh- in technicality, how was she supposed to fight for the gold medal match in such state ?

Precisely. Often fighters who have to undergo a severe cut to make weight end up gassed before the starting bell. This is once more on the fighters team - they're meant to know the healthy fighting weight their charge can comfortably manage.

She usually competed in the 53 kg category but was shifted to 50 kg category by the federation. Either the team with Vinesh was very ignorant or perhaps never expected Vinesh to reach the finals. Since it’s a well known fact that athletes have to take the weigh-in twice inside two days and have to be inside the category.

Simple: this makes it clear that it was a bad, nay naive call by the federation and her team. At lighter weight classes those 1-2 kgs are far harder than it is at say cruiserweight or heavyweight. I'm not surprised now as the story adds up. Shifting her down a weight class was a risk the team took hoping she'd have more in the tank against competitors whose natural weight is at that mark, however they got the cut wrong.

Like I said earlier - this is plain and simple on the door of the team. If you don't make weight because you gambled on a class below your natural fighting weight, that's a bad gamble on your part. If you don't make weight even if it's close to your fighting weight, then it's on you I'm afraid.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

She usually competed in the 53 kg category but was shifted to 50 kg category by the federation.

But this change in category was not done on the previous day of final, right? Didn’t she contest in same category for the league and quarter finals or whatever had happened so far in this olympics. If so she must have been monitored during then as well so what is not able to understand is why was she left at the border line.

And even closely prior to Olympics, they must have trained and practiced for this same category right? How can it be so Ad hoc at this level of competitive event.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

But this change in category was not done on the previous day of final, right? Didn’t she contest in same category for the league and quarter finals or whatever had happened so far in this olympics. If so she must have been monitored during then as well so what is not able to understand is why was she left at the border line.

And even closely prior to Olympics, they must have trained and practiced for this same category right? How can it be so Ad hoc at this level of competitive event.

Exactly, that is why I said that her team
is responsible for the current fiasco and that I would wait to hear Vinesh’s statement.

It is unreal that a player went through the qualifying rounds and several rounds of weigh- ins after, disqualified just before the final. An overweight player will never make the cut at the first place through so many rounds of intense wrestling when the player knows that she or he can’t maintain the same weight which they have had to shed to qualify !