Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the final of the 50kg freestyle wrestling for being overweight on the day of the gold medal match. She will not get a medal as well and as per official rules in wrestling, she will be ranked last and eliminated from the competition. USA wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt will now take the gold medal and there will be no silver medal in this category.
Vinesh's uncle Mahavir Phogat has also confirmed the development stating that Vinesh was only 100 grams overweight and adding that she will not be getting any medal now at the Paris Olympics. "Vinesh will not get any medal now. She weighed 100 grams overweight on the day of the final and hence, was disqualified," Mahavir said.
What are the UWW rules?
According to the rules set by United World Wrestling (UWW), for all competitions, including the Olympics, the wrestlers are weighed on match day and are only allowed to compete if they are weighed as per their category. Even the slightest of increase in weight is not considered and the concerned contestant is disqualified.
In Vinesh's case, on Tuesday (August 6), she weighed exactly 50kg, in the category she was competing, and was allowed to play. But things changed dramatically once she reached the final and despite making several efforts to shed the weight, Vinesh could not meet the requirement and weighed 100 grams more in her category before eventually getting disqualified from the final.
Here are the rules:
For all competitions, the weigh-in is organized each morning for the concerned weight category. The weigh-in and the medical control lasts 30 minutes. The second morning of the concerned weight category only the wrestlers who participate in the repechages and finals have to come for the weigh-in. This weigh-in will last 15 minutes.
No wrestler may be accepted at the weigh-in if he has not undergone a medical examination the first morning. Wrestlers must appear at the medical examination and the weigh-in with their license and accreditation.
The only uniform allowed for the weigh-in is the singlet. After having been examined by qualified physicians who are obliged to eliminate any wrestler who presents any danger of contagious disease, the wrestler can be weighed in. No weight tolerance will be allowed for the singlet.
Contestants must be in perfect physical condition, with their fingernails cut very short.
Throughout the entire weigh-in period, wrestlers have the right, each in turn, to get on the scale as many times as they wish. 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.
The referees responsible for the weigh-in will receive the results of the draw and will be allowed to control only the athletes who are on this list. If an athlete does not attend or fails the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he/she 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.
