Paris Olympics 2024: Dehydrated Vinesh Phogat admitted to medical care

Vinesh Phogat has been admitted to the Games Village polyclinic due to dehydration, following her shock disqualification from the women's 50 kg wrestling event at the Paris Olympics. India's gold medal-hopeful weighed in overweight by a 'few grams' this morning, per the Indian Olympics Association.

"Vinesh Phogat was admitted to the polyclinic inside the Games Village because of dehydration, not any hospital," sources told IANS.

After being disqualified from the event, Phogat now places last. She will have to come back home entirely empty-handed, right after the euphoria of becoming the first woman wrestler from this dangal of a nation to make it into the Olympics finals, defeating first reigning champion Yui Susaki in the quarter-final and then Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman (5–0) in the semi-final on Tuesday night, 6 August. And a lot of folks on the internet are confused how and why this was allowed to happen — how can 100–150g be such a big deal? Was no one monitoring her weight?

What many don't realise is that the struggle of 'making weight' on the day of a bout (or three) is the norm for athletes at such events, not the exception. It's part of that unsung story of blood, sweat and tears — in this case, possibly literally.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) released a statement early in the day on 7 August, announcing Phogat's exit from the Games and requested respect for grappler's privacy. It also highlighted the support team's struggle 'all through the night'.

'It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50 kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50 kg this morning. No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand,' the IOA statement read.

After her semi–final win, Phogat reportedly did everything possible to meet the weight category criteria: jogging, skipping, cycling — and getting herself dehydrated.

The real surprise for the lay Olympics watchers is how unsurprising some of this is to actual athletes (or anyone with serious sporting ambitions).

For Phogat's disqualification only spotlights the gruelling process of weight cutting that athletes like her must endure for every match, every tournament.

Weight cutting is a common practice in Olympic sports with weight categories, where athletes shed pounds to stay in their weight class — a battle not because they are trying to compete against lighter, weaker opponents (as some of the less knowledgeable on social media are mouthing off), but because it is a battle between having the muscle mass and the strength to win and still fitting into the slices of weight range that ensure sheer mass is not used to gain advantage over an opponent (unlike in sumo wrestling!).

And how do athletes cut weight?

The process begins weeks before the competition, as an ESPN report explains in detail. Strict dietary restrictions, with reduced calorie intake and high-protein, low-carb meal plans to shed kilos are just the tip of the iceberg. Intense exercise routines are also employed, often including cardio workouts and sweat-inducing techniques to induce water loss — one of the easiest bits of mass to shed quickly.

In the final hours before the mandatory weigh-in, many athletes will use extreme measures to induce sweating, simulating hot conditions and wearing heavy clothing to lose that last 100 g. (Yes, exactly. Once the kilos are done, it is down to grams.)

This stage can be particularly harsh, leading to severe fatigue and dehydration in many cases, sometimes throwing up more problematic health issues — exactly what happened with Phogat.

It's not the first time she has struggled with this either. Remember Rio, when she was reviled as temperamental and unreliable for 'giving up'? At the time, she was competing in a lower weight class than now — and struggled to make the range, finally throwing in the towel. (Again, some netizens would like us to believe Phogat's downward move from the 53kg to the 50kg class is a tantrum or bullying of the IOA somehow; when the truth is she had actually travelled upwards across ranges from 2016 twice, before dropping into the middle now.)

Once they have 'made weight', though, athletes must rapidly rehydrate and restore energy, fluid and electrolyte levels to compete effectively. This recovery phase is crucial to ensure they perform optimally despite the extreme conditions they have just endured — and that's why back-to-back bouts, like Phogat faced here, become especially challenging. You literally must yo-yo.

The process is physically and mentally demanding, often leading to severe fatigue and some have claimed long-term health issues.

And so, with a new video out from the team nutritionist, Dinshaw Pardiwala, and IOA president P.T. Usha, now we wait. Not for gold but to see Vinesh Phogat restored to health, with hopefully no lingering issues.

With inputs from IANS.