‘Thought she might die’ – Vinesh Phogat’s coach makes shocking revelation in now-deleted social media post

Star Indian grappler Vinesh Phogat’s coach, Woller Akos, has made a shocking revelation in a now-deleted Facebook post. Vinesh qualified for the gold medal match in her weight category (women’s 50kg freestyle) at the recently concluded Paris Olympics 2024 - becoming the first female wrestler from the country to get this far, only to get disqualified for being overweight by 100gms. 

Woller revealed they tried everything at hand to ensure Vinesh cleared the mandatory weigh-in test on D-day but failed in their efforts by a whisker, so much so that at one point, he feared she might die.

In a now-deleted detailed social media post, Woller explained what happened behind the scenes and how soon after her semis win, Vinesh got down to churning the extra 2.7 kg. However, despite exercising, taking a sauna, doing countless activities, and all without sleeping, Vinesh fell shy of crossing the line.

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The Hungarian highlighted Vinesh’s will and commitment to secure an Olympic gold, as he wrote, “After the semi-final, 2.7 kg of excess weight was left; we exercised for one hour and twenty minutes, but 1.5 kg still remained. 

“Later, after 50 minutes of sauna, not a drop of sweat appeared on her. There was no choice left, and from midnight to 5:30 in the morning, she worked on different cardio machines and wrestling moves, about three-quarters of an hour at one go, with two to three minutes of rest. Then she started again. She collapsed, but somehow, we got her up, and she spent an hour in the sauna. 

“I don’t intentionally write dramatic details, but I only remember thinking that she might die,” he wrote, as quoted by the Indian Express.

‘She was in tears after disqualification’

As soon as the news broke out that Vinesh failed her second mandatory weigh-in test, leading to her disqualification in the gold medal match, disappointment took over among the million fans in India and worldwide. Woller wrote that Vinesh was heartbroken with the result and she broke down.

“We had an interesting conversation that night, returning from the hospital. Vinesh Phogat said, ‘Coach, don’t be sad because you told me that if I find myself in any difficult situation and need extra energy, I should think that I beat the best woman wrestler (Japan’s Yui Susaki) in the world. 

“I achieved my goal; I proved that I am one of the best in the world. We have proved that the game plans work. Medals, podiums are just objects. Performance cannot be taken away,” Akos wrote.

Vinesh was among the high-profile wrestlers, including former Olympic medal winners Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, who protested against the now-suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president, Brij Bhushan Singh, for his alleged involvement in a sexual harassment case earlier this year.

Speaking about how much she values the coveted Olympic medal, Akos revealed Vinesh pleaded with both grapplers not to immerse their medals into the Ganga river in Haridwar, but the two decided against listening to her.

“Vinesh had pleaded with Sakshi and Bajrang to not put their hard-earned Olympic medals in the river. She begged them to keep those because they were special. But they explained to her that the journey was important and their performance was not defined by medals,” he further wrote. 

Meanwhile, Vinesh appealed against the IOC’s decision to the Court of Arbitration (CAS), seeking a joint silver medal, but the CAS dismissed her appeal. 

(With inputs from agencies)