Vinesh Phogat Disqualified: Athletes Who Faced Similar Fate For Being Overweight During Weigh-In Process

Vinesh Phogat's heartbreaks of Rio and Tokyo seemed to have diminished when she entered the final of the ongoing Paris Olympics on Tuesday night. Stunning the defending Olympic champion and yet-to-be defeated Yui Susaki in the opening round stamped her credentials in the women's 50kg freestyle event. Two more dominating wins took her to the final which was to be held on Wednesday.

However, in a cruel twist of fate, the Indian wrestler was disqualified as she failed the pre-final bout weigh-in. The Haryana-born wrestler was found to be weighing just about 100 grams more than the 50kg limit.

Not just it bars her from fighting in the final, but also strips her off all the wins and pushes the Indian down to the last position in her category.

The heartbreak has triggered a massive controversy with a lot of people on the Internet terming the rule to be cruel and wanting silver for Vinesh. However, neither is Vinesh the only one to face the wrath of being overweight at the Paris Olympics, nor is it the first weigh-in failure for her at top level.

Earlier during the Asian Qualifiers ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Vinesh, who then competed in the 48kg category, was disqualified as she failed the weigh-in.

Let us have a look at some of the other athletes who have been disqualified from Olympic Games for being overweight during the weigh-in process.

Emanuela Liuzzi 

In another incident that took place at the ongoing Paris Olympics, Italy’s Emanuela Liuzzi was forced to forfeit from the competition’s preliminary bout being found overweight. 

The 24-year-old had arrived in Paris not long ago, after securing an Olympic ticket about ten days ago following the withdrawal of North Korea’s Kim Sonhyang and was scheduled for a debut in her 50 kg freestyle wrestling category. 

Messaoud Redouane Dris

Just like in freestyle wrestling, the weigh-in process is also conducted in Judo. Algeria’s Messaoud Redouane was scheduled to face Israel’s Tohur Butbul at the Paris Olympic but was disqualified before the bout on July 29, according to the information by the International Judo Federation.

The statement that was released said that Dris was disqualified during the weigh-in for being 400 grams overweight. 

J'den Cox

The 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medalist J'den Cox could not even fight in the United States wrestling qualifier as he was found to be overweight. Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics US trials, Cox, the then world champion, failed to make it to the 97kg weight category.