India’s star Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat is out of competition ahead of a gold medal match after being disqualified for exceeding the weight limit of his class. A devastating end to the Paris Games for the wrestler who led the charge against sexual harassment at the highest level of his sport.
Had he been able to compete and win Wednesday’s match, She was the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in an Olympic event.
Phogat, who often wrestles in the 53-kilogram weight — or about 116 pounds — made the 50-kilogram (about 110 pounds) berth after another wrestler won the 53-kilogram spot in India’s wrestling team. He knew the competition would be difficult to lose weight, he said in a message April interview: “I gain weight easily. It doesn’t matter how fit I am, I still gain weight because I have a lot of muscle mass.”
She was able to maintain the low weight until Wednesday, when she weighed just 100 grams over the weight limit – despite the drastic measures she took last week to maintain her 50-kilogram weight. Phogat barely ate, spent hours in the sauna and exercised, and even tried cutting his hair to gain weight. According to Team India’s Chief Medical Officer.
But that 100 grams — about 3.5 ounces — means he won’t compete in Wednesday’s match and won’t get a medal despite his dominance. He put on a remarkable performance in Paris Japan’s Olympic gold medalist Yui Susaki In the first round, and then dominated, seemingly guaranteeing India a gold or silver medal.
His win — and sudden disqualification — put his recent crusade against sexual harassment in India’s national wrestling organization back into the spotlight. And though his Olympics are over, there is now as much global attention to his activism as his athletic prowess.
Sexual harassment is a problem in India and in sports
Phogat spent months last year as the face of a campaign to oust Brijbhushan Sharan Singh as head of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the sport’s governing body in India.
Phogat and other female wrestlers accused Singh of sexual exploitation, and Phogat in particular alleged that he physically and mentally abused her after the Tokyo Summer Games, where she was narrowly denied a medal. After filing a complaint with the Indian Olympic Association, and receiving little response, they mounted A May 2023 protest in New Delhi – where they were reportedly assaulted by the police.
Sexual harassment is a problem everywhere, and India is no different A 2024 Center for Economic Data and Analysis Study Sexual harassment in the workplace is on the rise in India (although the reporting process has also increased), and a 2022 World Bank Report Harassment on public transport appeared to be an almost universal experience in major cities, with 88 percent of those surveyed in New Delhi saying they had experienced it.
Pandit Anil Kumar and Ashutosh Pandey, both Professors of Sociology at Beyalasi PG College, Jalalpur, India, wrote in a recent study that “conventional perceptions of sexual harassment often portray it as a joke, where women are considered both responsible for and deserving of such behavior.”
Despite the efforts of Indian feminists, especially since the 1970s, there are still high-profile cases of harassment and violence against women, as well as protests against police and governments’ handling of the issue.
As for Phogat and his colleagues, Singh was eventually arrested by the New Delhi Police June This year on charges of “sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the modesty of women”. According to The Hindu. He maintains his innocence.
That Singh was removed from his position as head of the WFI and held accountable for his alleged crimes is a testament to the women’s protest; Apart from his high profile in the athletic world, Singh was also a powerful member of Parliament with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Phogat’s Olympics are over, But more and more Indian women are playing sports – and the best. And his activism is part of a wider effort in India Help female athletes speak out about sexual harassment and assault. There’s more to be done in that arena: As sports fans have seen in Spain, the United States and elsewhere, the serious consequences of sexual harassment are not unique to India.
