Security tightened at IGI airport for Vinesh Phogat's arrival

NEW DELHI: Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat will arrive Indira Gandhi Internationa Airport, after facing a devastating turn of events when she was disqualified from the 50 kg gold medal match after being found 100 grams overweight during the official weigh-in in the Paris Olympics.

In view of Vinesh Phogat coming to India on Saturday, security has been increased at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Keeping in mind that her supporters will gather in large numbers, police personnel have been deployed.

The wrestler had expressed her deep sorrow over missing out on the Olympic podium, linking her personal disappointment to the broader struggle for women’s rights in India, which she had championed in her protests against the former wrestling federation chief.

In a three-page letter posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Friday night, Phogat hinted at a possible return to the sport in the future, leaving the door slightly ajar despite her earlier decision to retire.

The circumstances leading to Phogat’s disqualification have been detailed by her coach, Woller Akos, who described the intense efforts made to help her meet the weight requirement. Akos, who coached Phogat during the Paris Games, revealed in a now-deleted Facebook post that the night before the final weigh-in, the wrestler underwent a grueling and dangerous weight-cutting process.

“After the semi-final, 2.7 kg of excess weight was left; we exercised for one hour and twenty minutes, but 1.5 kg still remained. Later, after 50 minutes of sauna, not a drop of sweat appeared on her. There was no choice left, and from midnight to 5:30 in the morning, she worked on different cardio machines and wrestling moves, about three-quarters of an hour at one go, with two-three minutes of rest. Then she started again. She collapsed, but somehow we got her up, and she spent an hour in the sauna,” Akos wrote, adding, “I don’t intentionally write dramatic details, but I only remember thinking that she might die.”

Despite the team’s efforts, Phogat was unable to make weight, leading to her disqualification from the final bout. Phogat’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a joint silver medal was dismissed on Wednesday.