Former Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat silenced millions of her critics by defeating world number one and reigning Olympic champion Yui Susaki at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Vinesh also created history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final of the Olympics. However, in a heartbreaking twist of history, Vinesh was disqualified on the morning of her gold medal match for being 100 grams overweight. This not only meant that she could not participate in the gold medal match but also denied her the chance to win silver.

Vinesh also appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), demanding that she be awarded the silver medal in the women’s 50 kg event.

However, their application was rejected by CAS earlier this week, with details of the ruling expected to be announced later this month.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Woller Akos, Vinesh’s coach at the Paris Olympics, expressed fear that the wrestler “might die” at the end of the five-and-a-half hours of intense weight loss.

“After the semifinals, she was still 2.7 kg overweight. We trained for an hour and twenty minutes, but there was still 1.5 kg left. Later, after 50 minutes in the sauna, there was not a drop of sweat left. She had no choice and from midnight to 5:30 in the morning she trained on various cardio machines and wrestling exercises, about three quarters of an hour at a time, with two to three minutes of rest. Then she started again. She collapsed, but somehow we managed to get her up and she spent an hour in the sauna. I’m not intentionally writing dramatic details, but I just remember thinking she might die,” Akos wrote in a post that he later deleted.

For those who don’t know, Vinesh was hospitalized for dehydration on the morning of their last fight. Woller also explained what Vinesh told him on the way back from the hospital.

“We had an interesting conversation that evening when we came back from the hospital. Vinesh Phogat said, ‘Coach, don’t be sad because you told me that when I am in a difficult situation and need extra energy, I should think that I have beaten the best wrestler (Japan’s Yui Susaki) in the world. I have achieved my goal and proved that I am one of the best in the world. We have proved that game plans work. Medals and podiums are just objects. Achievement cannot be taken away from you,'” he added.

“Vinesh had begged Sakshi and Bajrang not to throw her hard-earned Olympic medals into the river. She pleaded with them to keep them because they were special. But they explained to her that the journey was important and her achievement was not defined by medals. We will still be proud that our professional programme could lead to beating the best wrestler in the world and taking an Indian wrestler to the Olympic final for the first time in history,” Akos concluded.