Vinesh Phogat retires from Wrestling after Olympics Heartbreak

Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling, a day after she was disqualified for being over the weight limit at the 2024 Olympics.

The Indian athlete was set to face the USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt in the finals of the 50kg freestyle event.

A win would have made Phogat the first female athlete from India to win an Olympic gold medal in any event.

But on the morning of the final, Phogat weighed in a few grams above the limit and was disqualified.

Due to the heartbreak, Vinesh Phogat said she no longer had the strength to carry on.

She wrote on X: “Wrestling won and I lost. My dreams are shattered.

“Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to you all. I am sorry.”

A three-time Olympian, Vinesh Phogat has won three Commonwealth Games golds, two World Championships bronze medals and one Asian Games gold medal.

In 2021, she was also crowned the Asian Champion.

At the Paris Games, Phogat became the first female Indian wrestler to reach an Olympic final – a feat which would have guaranteed her at least a silver medal if it wasn’t for her disqualification.

Sakshi Malik, the only other female wrestler to win an Olympic medal for India, had clinched a bronze at Rio 2016.

Phogat’s performance also included one of the biggest upsets at the Olympics so far, after she beat reigning world champion Yui Susaki from Japan to progress to the quarter-finals.

It was reported that Phogat starved herself for a week and spent hours in the sauna to cut weight for the contest.

In the previous two Olympics, she had competed in the 53kg category.

This was her first outing in the 50kg category – and the wrestler reportedly struggled to meet the weight requirement during her Olympic qualifiers as well.

Phogat has appealed against her disqualification, seeking to be awarded a joint silver medal.

This is not the first time Phogat has suffered a setback at the Olympic Games.

At Rio 2016, she had been a favourite for the medal until she dislocated her right knee midway through the quarter-final bout.

After the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Vinesh Phogat admitted she went into near depression amid unfair criticism for her performance after she was knocked out in the second round.

She said: “I was alone… Everyone outside is treating me like I am a dead thing.

“I don’t know when I will return.

“Maybe I won’t. I feel I was better off with that broken leg [at Rio 2016]. I had something to correct. Now my body is not broken, but I’m truly broken.”