NEW DELHI: American wrestler Sarah Ann Hildebrandt won the gold medal in the 50kg category at the Paris Olympics after Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified for being 100 grams overweight. Hildebrandt, who had been preparing for the final, faced an unexpected situation when Phogat was replaced by Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, whom Hildebrandt eventually defeated to secure the gold.
Phogat, aged 29, had been eliminated after the weigh-in for being overweight, leading to her being substituted by Lopez, whom she had defeated in the semifinal. Hildebrandt, 30, who had previously won a bronze at the Tokyo Games, described the confusion she experienced during the weigh-in, initially mistaking Phogat's absence for a forfeit.
"I prepared for chaos, but that was not on my bingo card of chaos," Hildebrandt was quoted as saying by PTI, explaining the unexpected turn of events.
Hildebrandt thought Phogat had forfeited when she did not see her at the weigh-in.
"(Vinesh) wasn't at weigh-ins, so I was in my head like, 'Oh my gosh, this might be a possibility.' Then, we get the news that she didn't make weight, and we were under the impression that it was a forfeit. So, there was a lot of celebrating," she recalled.
However, she learned that her celebration was premature.
"It was very strange, like 'Oh my god, I just won the Olympics.' Then an hour later, they were like, 'You did not win the Olympics.' I'm like, 'Oh, this is very weird.' So there had to be a reset. I took a nap, woke up, and it was like a fever dream," she added.
Phogat, who had moved to the 50kg category earlier this year to compete in the Olympics, had taken extreme measures to make weight, including staying hungry, avoiding fluids, and staying up all night to sweat it out. Despite these measures, she was 100 grams over the limit and became dehydrated, necessitating IV fluids at a polyclinic in the Games Village.
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