Vinesh Phogat's First Picture From Hospital Emerges After Disqualification From Paris Olympics

Paris Olympics 2024: Paris Olympics 2024: India's medal hopes from women's wrestling have now drowned following Vinesh Phogat's unfortunate exit from the Paris Olympics. The wrestler was all set to write a new chapter of Indian sporting history in the city of lights but she failed to meet the requirements of her weight category. Its not just about gold, but Vinesh could've also become the first Indian female wrestler to win an Olympic silver, but what followed was just sheer heartbreak.

IOA President PT Usha Meets Vinesh Phogat In Hospital

Vinesh Phogat was taken to the hospital after she went through rigorous training and took extreme steps to cut down weight in order to meet the stipulated 50kg mark ahead of her finals in the Women's 50kg freestyle wrestling. IOA President PT Usha visited Phogat in the hospitals. Phogat's first images from the hospital have surfaced online. Phogat had pushed herself to extreme measures to meet the weight category and had to be hospitalized but is now stablee.

Phogat's Unfinished Dream Of Scripting History In Olympics

The Indian grappler first defeated Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan and then followed it up with a stellar victory over Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the quarters. In the semis, Vinesh took her game to a different level and beat Yusneylis Guzman of Cuba 5-0. She could become the only female Indian wrestler to win a gold, but now it will continue to remain a dream that couldn't be fulfilled. With hours to go before her gold medal bout on Wednesday, Vinesh Phogat stood on the scale: the figures on display were horrifying. For her 50kg category fight, she was 100gm overweight, leading to an automatic disqualification on perhaps the biggest day of her sporting career. Dehydrated after three gruelling bouts on Tuesday, a desperate Vinesh merely had "small amounts of water", cut her hair, and stayed up all night working out to ensure that she didn't go over the prescribed limit for her weight.

It wasn't enough and no amount of pleading by the Indian officials to get her some more time to shed those 100gm could change the rules. So that's how it stayed, ending the 29-year-old's resilient run during which she took down the reigning gold-medallist only to be beaten by her own battered body. As she recovered from the emotional and physical trauma of the turn of events at a polyclinic in the Olympic Games Village, a slugfest ensued in far away Delhi where politicians traded barbs on just who was responsible for the mess.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered her support, calling her a "champion among champions" in a social media post, and Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya declared that a "strong protest" had been lodged with the international body --United World Wrestling (UWW).

(With PTI Inputs)