Vinesh Phogat’s last hope for an Olympic medal in Paris was dashed when her appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was dismissed just days ago. The Indian wrestler, who felt that an Olympic medal had slipped through her fingers, will be returning home soon.
Details continue to emerge about the night before her second official weigh-in ahead of the 50kg freestyle final. According to reports, her coach, Woller Akos, expressed grave concern for Vinesh’s life as she attempted to cut the final few grams needed to make weight. Despite her efforts, she ultimately missed the mark by just 100 grams, resulting in her disqualification.
A report in The Indian Express reveals that Akos shared his concerns in a Facebook post, which he later deleted. The post, written in Hungarian, detailed the intense and dangerous weight-cutting process that Vinesh underwent.
“After the semi-final, she had 2.7 kg of excess weight,” Akos wrote. “We exercised for one hour and twenty minutes, but 1.5 kg still remained. After 50 minutes in the sauna, not a drop of sweat appeared on her. With no other choice, from midnight to 5:30 in the morning, she worked on different cardio machines and wrestling moves, about three-quarters of an hour at a time, with only two to three minutes of rest in between. Then she started again.”
Akos recalled how Vinesh “collapsed” during this grueling process but somehow managed to get back up and spend another hour in the sauna. “I don’t intentionally write dramatic details, but I only remember thinking that she might die,” he wrote.
The post also included a poignant conversation between Akos and Vinesh after she was discharged from the hospital in Paris. “We had an interesting conversation that night, returning from the hospital,” the coach recounted. “Vinesh 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 about how I beat the best woman wrestler in the world (Yui Susaki of Japan in the Round of 16). I achieved my goal; I proved that I am one of the best in the world. We have proved that our game plans work. Medals and podiums are just objects. Performance cannot be taken away.'”
Vinesh’s ordeal highlights the extreme lengths athletes sometimes go to in pursuit of their dreams, and the risks involved in such high-pressure situations.
