Paris 2024 Olympics Wrestling: Is Vinesh Phogat playing today?

Vinesh Phogat will not participate in the Paris Olympics 2024 gold medal match against USA's Sarah Ann Hildebrandt. The Indian wrestler has been disqualified for being over the stipulated weight limit.

Phogat had a terrific run to get to the gold medal match. She started by trouncing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Yui Susaki of Japan (3-2) to get to the next round of play. The Haryana-born wrestler was up against Oksana Livach and she beat the Ukrainian 7-5 to qualify for the semi-finals.

Vinesh Phogat downed Yusneylis Guzman of Cuba 5-0 to become the first Indian female wrestler to reach the Olympics final.

As per wrestling rules at the Paris Olympics 2024, each weight category is organized over two competition days. The weigh-in happens on both days, with the contestants of the repechage and finals being weighed on the second day. While undergoing routine weight checks on Wednesday (August 7), Phogat was found to be overweight by 100gm and was thus disqualified from the gold medal match.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) put out the following statement on X:

“It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the women’s wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning. No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand.”

You can find the tweet below:

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Vinesh Phogat had a sensational run at the Paris Olympics 2024

Phogat beat Yui Susaki 3-2 in her first match (File image via Getty)

Vinesh Phogat had a fantastic run in the Women's 50kg Freestyle Wrestling event at the Paris Olympics. She was up against some of the world's best wrestlers and ensured that she trumped each one of them on her way to securing a berth in the gold medal match.

The 29-year-old defeated the defending champion Yui Susaki 3-2, with all of her points coming in the dying embers of the match. She then trounced Ukraine's Oksana Livach 7-5 and set up a semi-final encounter with Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman, whom she beat 5-0.