'I thought she might die': Vinesh's Coach Reveals Disturbing Details About Her Miserable Condition

Vinesh Phogat's coach Woller Akos and the rest of the staff feared for the wrestler's life as she underwent an over-exhausting weight-cut process the night before her Gold medal match. Phogat was assessed overweight by 100 grams and hence was disqualified ahead of her final bout at the 50kg Freestyle category.

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Vinesh Phogat's Coach Recalls Worst Fear That Crossed Mind

Phogat had a dream run till the semi-final. She defeated the Tokyo Olympics Gold medalist, Yui Susaki, heroically in the last 10 seconds. She breezed past the quarterfinal and semi-final to guarantee herself a medal, however, all went in vain she got disqualified. Phogat took her case to CAS, however, her appeal was rejected and hence India missed out on a medal.

On the day, Vinesh Phogat got disqualified, she got hospitalized as the weight-cut process took a toll on her health, however, it could have been much worse. Phogat's coach revealed Vinesh went to the extreme to lose the 2.7 kg excess weight and in the process she collapsed. Coach recalls the fear that crossed his mind that day.

"After the semi-final, 2.7 kg of excess weight was left; we exercised for one hour and twenty minutes, but 1.5 kg still remained. Later, after 50 minutes of sauna, not a drop of sweat appeared on her. There was no choice left, and from midnight to 5:30 in the morning, she worked on different cardio machines and wrestling moves, about three-quarters of an hour at one go, with two to three minutes of rest. Then she started again. She collapsed, but somehow we got her up, and she spent an hour in the sauna. I don’t intentionally write dramatic details, but I only remember thinking that she might die," Akos wrote.

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What Vinesh Phogat Told Her Coach, and How He Motivated Her

"We had an interesting conversation that night, returning from the hospital. Vinesh Phogat said, 'Coach, don't be sad because you told me that if I find myself in any difficult situation and need extra energy, I should think that I beat the best woman wrestler (Japan's Yui Susaki) in the world. I achieved my goal, I proved that I am one of the best in the world. We have proved that the gameplans work. Medals, podiums are just objects. Performance cannot be taken away'," Akos had written further.