Reports: Antim Panghal starved herself for 48 hours after Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from Paris Olympics 2024
After the news of Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from the Paris Olympics 2024 came out, another shocking revelation surfaced - Antim Panghal starved for 48 hours ahead of her bout to meet the permissible weight limits.
However, Antim, part of the 53kg weight division, suffered a defeat to Turkey's Zeynep Yetgil by 0-10 in her first bout to bow out of the global event.
According to the report by TOI, Antim didn't take food and survived with minimum water intake, leaving her body weak and severely dehydrated.
Before her first bout of the competition, Antim Panghal was overweight and asked her masseur, dietician, and sister Nisha to manage her meal intake.
Since Nisha was staying outside the village as she wasn't part of the official contingent, Antim was left to manage her weight on her own. Exhausted with no energy left, she faced Yetgil in her first contest of the campaign and, unsurprisingly, suffered a crushing defeat, leading to her elimination.
How does the weigh-in work at the Olympics?
For the wrestlers, the weigh-ins usually take place on the morning of their competition day. On the first day, the qualification rounds will take place while on the second day, the final and repechage rounds will happen.
Wrestlers who storm into the finals or the repechage rounds must weigh in on both days. During the first day's weigh-in, athletes will have a 30-minute window to have a look at their weight while sporting singlets. They can get onto the scale as many times as needed during the window.
Furthermore, wrestlers will also be checked for signs of contagious diseases, and their fingernails should be trimmed short. On the other hand, the second weigh-in on the second day will have a weigh-in window of 15 minutes.
Vinesh Phogat was scheduled to take on USA grappler Sarah Hildebrandt on Wednesday night in the gold medal bout. With the wrestler weighing 100 grams more than her permissible weight limit, she was disqualified.
Though Vinesh's coaches and support staff tried various methods, such as cutting her hair and drawing blood, their efforts did not affect reducing her weight. She has now appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to give her a silver medal, at least since she reached the finals on merit.
The CAS is expected to announce its final verdict on August 10, 9:30 PM IST. If the verdict is ruled in Vinesh Phogat's favor, then she'll win a silver medal. Otherwise, she will rank last as per the UWW rules.