Unbeatable Vinesh's hopes crushed by her weight

Paris, NT Bureau: With hours to go before her gold medal bout on Wednesday, Vinesh Phogat stood on the scale: the figures on display were horrifying.

For her 50kg category fight, she was 100gm overweight, leading to an automatic disqualification on perhaps the biggest day of her sporting career. Dehydrated after three gruelling bouts on Tuesday, a desperate Vinesh merely had "small amounts of water", cut her hair, and stayed up all night working out to ensure that she didn't go over the prescribed limit for her weight.

It wasn't enough and no amount of pleading by the Indian officials to get her some more time to shed those 100gm could change the rules. So that's how it stayed, ending the 29-year-old's resilient run during which she took down the reigning gold-medallist only to be beaten by her own battered body.

Vinesh, you are a champion among champions! You are India's pride and an inspiration for each and every Indian. Today's setback hurts. I wish words could express the sense of despair that I am experiencing — PM Modi

As she recovered from the emotional and physical trauma of the turn of events at a polyclinic in the Olympic Games Village, a slugfest ensued in far away Delhi where politicians traded barbs on just who was responsible for the mess.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered her support, calling her a "champion among champions" in a social media post, and Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya declared that a "strong protest" had been lodged with the international body --United World Wrestling (UWW).

The opposition n parties, however, sensed a conspiracy in the shocking reversal of fortunes for the wrestler, who was, till recently, the face of a fierce protest against "gover nment inaction" on the sexual harassment allegations against former Wrestling Federation of India head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. INDIA bloc M Ps even held a protest on Parliament premises.

But amid all the drama, a dream lay shattered and a country stood shocked with many unable to fathom just how could things go this bad for Tuesday's showstopper in a matter of hours.

From going to sleep as an assured silvermedallist if not a goldwinner, Vinesh woke up, went for weigh-ins and came back to find herself empty-handed in an Olympics, yet again.

Shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won India’s first individual Olympic gold in 2008, said he was “completely gutted”. “Sometimes you don’t need a gold medal to be a true champion to people,” he added. This was her third Games appearance.

The first in Rio 2016 ended with her being stretchered off due to a career-threatening injury, while the second outing in Tokyo also halted painfully with an unexpected early loss.

"We are providing Vinesh all medical and emotional support," Indian Olympic Association President P T Usha said in a statement. She was later seen putting her hand on Vinesh's shoulder as she sat upright on her bed at the Games Village clinic.

Vinesh managed to smile for that moment. "The Wrestling Federation of India has filed an appeal with UWW to reconsider the decision to disqualify Vinesh and IOA is following that up in the strongest possible manner," Usha said.