PARIS — The Indian wrestler who failed to make weight for her gold-medal bout at the 2024 Paris Olympics has abruptly retired.
Vinesh Phogat, who would have been India’s first Olympic medalist in wrestling, announced in an emotional post on social media that she is walking away from the sport. The news came less than 24 hours after she had taken dramatic steps to lose weight, including cutting her hair, but came in about 0.2 pounds over the maximum allowed in her class.
In a message written in Hindi and posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Phogat said goodbye to her wrestling career and also asked for forgiveness.
“Mother, wrestling won against me. I lost,” she wrote in the post, according to a translation published by The Hindustan Times, an English-language newspaper based in Delhi.
“Your dreams and my courage are shattered. I don’t have any more strength now.”
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Phogat, 29, is a three-time Olympian and one of India’s best-known wrestlers, particularly after her public involvement in protests against the former top official of the country’s wrestling federation, who had been accused of sexual harassment. She was one of several female wrestlers in India who had called for criminal charges to be levied against the official, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was ousted from his post last year.
Phogat won two bronze medals at world championships over the past five years plus…
