New Delhi, May 29 (IANS). The Supreme Court has refused to stay the order of the Delhi High Court, in which Olympian Vinesh Phogat was allowed to participate in the selection trials for the Asian Games. After this, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has said that he will be allowed to participate only in the 50 kg weight category, in which he had participated in the Paris Olympics two years ago.
The WFI had approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the Delhi High Court order, but when the Supreme Court refused to stop Phogat from taking part in the trials, the federation hit another hurdle. He said that Vinesh should compete in the 50 kg weight category and not the 57 kg weight category to which she had recently switched.
“Vinesh Phogat will have to compete in the trials in the 50 kg weight category, the same weight category in which she competed in the Paris Olympics. Being a well-known wrestler, she will be allowed to take part in the selection process, but only in the 50 kg weight category. The weigh-in is scheduled for early morning,” WFI sources told IANS. It seems that the WFI came up with this rule just before the start of the meet. Is. Perhaps they are hoping that during the weighing on Saturday morning, Vinesh will not be able to weigh less than 50 kg.
Vinesh, who started in the 48 kg weight category, moved to the 51 kg weight category and then settled in the 53 kg weight category. In the same weight category, he won two World Championship medals and also won a medal in the Tokyo Olympics. However, during the trials for the Paris Olympics, he participated in both the 53 kg and 50 kg weight categories, after which he got qualification in the 50 kg weight category. She reached the final of 50 kg weight category in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But during the weigh-in on the morning of the final, she failed to weigh less than 50 kg by a narrow margin. The 31-year-old wrestler, one of the famous Phogat sisters from Haryana, had announced her retirement a day after her defeat at the Paris Olympics. However, in December 2025, he changed his decision to retire and set his sights on the LA 2028 Olympics. During this period of being away from the mat, Vinesh also became a mother in July last year.
–IANS
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