Vignesh Phogat Retires After Disqualification from Olympics

Indian female wrestler Vignesh Phogat announced her retirement on Thursday, Aug. 8,  after being disqualified from the Paris Olympics 2024.

The female wrestler was disqualified from the games after being found 100g overweight during the weigh-in ahead of her gold medal match. 

Vinesh shared the news on social media, saying, "Mom, Wrestling has defeated me, I have lost. I lost…my courage is all broken, I don't have any more strength now."

माँ कुश्ती मेरे से जीत गई मैं हार गई माफ़ करना आपका सपना मेरी हिम्मत सब टूट चुके इससे ज़्यादा ताक़त नहीं रही अब।

अलविदा कुश्ती 2001-2024 🙏

आप सबकी हमेशा ऋणी रहूँगी माफी 🙏🙏

— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 7, 2024

Phogat made history by becoming the first Indian female to reach the wrestling final at the Olympics. However, the disqualification shattered her dreams. 

The Indian wrestler filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), requesting to be awarded a joint silver medal after her disqualification. 

In her final match against USA's Sarah Ann Hildebrandt, Phogat was replaced by Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez who she had defeated in the semi-finals.

The Chief Minister of Haryana, Nayab Singh Saini said that the state government will honor Phogat in the same manner that they would honor an Olympic medallist. 

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