Wrestling, Olympics 2024: What Vinesh Phogat achieved cannot be validated by a medal

Sport is capable of demonstrating both beauty and cruelty. It can elevate you to the top of the world or cast you into the depths of despair. For Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, the past 24 hours have vividly illustrated this duality.

In a single day, she went from defeating the undefeated and being on the brink of making history as the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic gold, to being disqualified and left without a ranking.

In a heartbreaking twist on Thursday, Phogat was disqualified from the Paris 2024 Olympics due to being over the weight limit in the women’s 50kg category, on the morning of her gold medal bout.

She first overcame top seed and defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan, who had never lost an international bout before, and then defeated former European champion Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the quarter-finals.

Explained: Why Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from Olympics wrestling gold medal match

In the semi-final, Phogat defeated reigning Pan American Games champion Yusneylis Guzman of Cuba to ensure her best-ever run in the Olympics.

For the historic final, Phogat was set to compete against sixth-seeded Sarah Hildebrandt of the USA. Phogat had defeated Hildrebrandt twice in the 53kg category in the past.

Both the grapplers had dropped down to the 50kg weight...

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