Why Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified

India’s Olympic wrestling star Vinesh Phogat withdrew from the gold medal match after being disqualified for being overweight. It was a heartbreaking end to the Paris Olympics for the wrestler who has led the fight against sexual harassment at the highest level of competition.

If she can compete and win Wednesday’s race, She will become the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the Olympic event.

Phogat usually competes in the 53 kg (about 116 pounds) category. After another wrestler won a spot on the Indian wrestling team in the 53 kg category, Phogat was offered a spot in the 50 kg (about 110 pounds) category. She said in an interview that she knew it would be difficult to get down to competition weight. April Interview: “I gain weight very easily. No matter how fit I am, I still gain weight because I have so much muscle.”

Her weight has remained low and she was only 100 grams over the limit on Wednesday – despite taking extreme measures over the past week to maintain her 50kg weight. Phogat barely eats, spends hours in the sauna, works out and even tried to cut her hair to lose weight. According to the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian team.

But that 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) meant she couldn’t compete on Wednesday, and despite her dominant performance, she couldn’t medal at all. She had a great performance in Paris, beating Japanese Olympic gold medalist Yui Susaki In the first round, the Indian team dominated and seemed guaranteed to win the gold or silver medal.

Her victory — and sudden disqualification — has put her recent campaign against sexual harassment in India’s national wrestling organization back in the spotlight. Though her Olympics are over, the world is now paying as much attention to her activism as to her athleticism.

Last year, Phogat spent months calling for the removal of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the governing body of wrestling in India.

Phogat and other female wrestlers accused Singh of sexual exploitation, with Phogat specifically alleging that Singh subjected her to mental and psychological torture after the Tokyo Olympics, when she missed out on a medal. They filed a complaint with the Indian Olympic Association, but received no response, so they began May 2023 Protests In New Delhi, they were reportedly attacked by police.

Sexual harassment is a problem all over the world, and India is no exception. Economic Data and Analysis Research Center found that sexual harassment in the workplace is increasing in India (despite an increase in reporting mechanisms), and World Bank Report 2022 The survey found that harassment on public transport was an almost universal experience in major cities, with 88% of those surveyed in New Delhi saying they had experienced such harassment.

Scholars Anil Kumar and Ashutosh Pandey are professors in the Department of Sociology at Bayalasi PG College in Jalalpur, India. In a recent study, “The common perception of sexual harassment often sees it as a joke, with women being seen as responsible for and deserving of the behaviour.”

Despite the efforts of feminists in India, especially since the 1970s, cases of harassment and violence against women remain common, as do protests against the police and government’s handling of such issues.

In the case of Phogat and his colleagues, the Delhi police eventually June This year, she was accused of “sexual harassment, intimidation and insulting women”. According to The HinduHe has always maintained his innocence.

Singh’s removal as WBA president and prosecution for his alleged crimes is a testament to women’s protest; in addition to his high profile in the sports world, Singh is also an influential member of parliament for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Fogate Olympics are over. But more and more Indian women are taking up sports — and did it well. Her action is part of a broader effort in India to Helping female athletes speak out about sexual harassment and assaultThere is still a lot to be done in this area: As sports fans see Spain, USAAs elsewhere, the serious consequences of sexual harassment are not unique to India.