Paris Olympics 2024: Actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut has voiced her support for wrestler Vinesh Phogat following her disqualification from the Paris Olympics 2024. This comes a day after a BJP MP criticised Phogat for her protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi while congratulating her for her success at the Olympics.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the tournament today. Phogat, who was set to compete in the gold medal match against USA's Sarah Hilderbrandt, will now miss out on the medal after being found approximately 100 grams overweight in the 50kg category. A disqualified athlete cannot contest for a medal, and unfortunately for Vinesh, after all she has been through, she will return empty-handed.
What did Kangana Ranaut say?
Kangana Ranaut took to Instagram to show her support for Vinesh. She shared a picture on Instagram Stories where Mother India is depicted standing behind the wrestler. The image included the message, “Mat ro Vinesh, aapke saath khada hai pura desh (Don't cry, the whole country is standing beside you)”. Additionally, Kangana shared a photo of Indian Olympic Association chief PT Usha meeting Vinesh, referring to her as a 'sherni' (lioness).
On Tuesday, Kangana took to Instagram to react to Vinesh’s achievement, writing, “Fingers crossed for India’s first Gold Medal… Vinesh Phogat at one point took part in protests where she raised the slogans of ‘Modi teri Kabr khudegi.’ Yet she was given the opportunity to represent the nation and receive the best training, coaches, and facilities. This is the beauty of democracy and the mark of a great leader.”
Vinesh Phogat disqualified
The 29-year-old stormed into the final of the women's 50kg category with three sensational wins on Tuesday. Phogat was set to face Sarah Hildebrandt of the USA in an epic medal match but the IOC stunned the Indian contingent by disqualifying the ace wrestler after the latter found 100 gm overweight.
Vinesh was roughly over her weight category by a couple of kgs Tuesday (August 6) night and did everything in her capacity to shed the extra weight to meet the eligibility criteria before the weigh-in on Wednesday morning. However, she still was around 100gms heavier. The Indian contingent reportedly asked for some more time for Vinesh to shed that extra weight but to no avail as she was disqualified.
As per the Olympics rule, Vinesh will finish last. Cuban wrestler, who suffered a defeat to Vinesh in the semi-final will now fight for Gold.
As per Article 11 about weigh-in in wrestling, "The referees responsible for the weigh-in must check that all wrestlers are of the weight corresponding to the category in which they are entered for the competition, that they fulfil all the requirements of Article 5 and to inform any wrestler of the risk he runs if he presents himself on the mat in incorrect dress. Referees will refuse to weigh a wrestler who is not dressed correctly.
"If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he will be eliminated from the competition and ranked last, without rank. If an athlete is injured during the first day, he doesn't have to attend the second weigh-in and will keep his results," the rules further read.
