Vijender Singh, an experienced Indian boxer, suggested that if weightlifter Vinesh Phogat had put on more than 100 grams in a weigh-in before the Olympic finals it may have been sabotaged because she was just like the top sportsmen who lose weight prior to important battles.
Vijender is well conversant with what it means to maintain weight before critical contests since he is the first and only male boxer from India to win an Olympic medal. What amazed him most was that Vinesh weighed 50kg but she weighed in at 100gm above this during Olympics’ premiere final.
“I feel like there’s something wrong here. A hundred grams? I mean, we can lose five kilos overnight. It is hard no doubt but we understand how to control the desire for food, water and push ourselves beyond limit,” Vijender told PTI
“By sabotage I mean people who do not want India to become a sporting nation. This girl has gone through so much, my heart goes out for her. She did everything one could possibly do? What other test?” He said.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, former President of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), has been accused by women wrestlers of sexual harassment and intimidation; it was Vinesh who led a prolonged protest against him. Before coming to Paris she has passed through chaotic accreditation procedure, nights spent homeless on streets or police custody.
Her sensational outing in Tokyo when she defeated Japan’s Yui Susaki – the reigning champion with an unblemished international record – drew in all attention.
“This can’t be happening! Not someone like Vinesh. She’s been there as long as elite athletes have known; there must be something else going on here. I am scared about her condition if she is okay too. It’s not good at all,” added Vijender, adding his voice as a pioneer in Indian boxing.
Weight categories are mandatory for contact sports competitors, who make it their duty to remain within these zones.
This involves starving oneself for hours on end, not taking a drop of liquid and lying under heavy blankets sweating out extra kilos where it’s very cold.
“There were times when I would spit saliva continuously so that nothing went inside you know. This is unthinkable. We have the special Sauna suits that we wear which feels like a heater and there are times we jog with them on to lose weight,” he said.
It is an incredibly intense workout that takes its toll on the bodies and minds of athletes. MC Mary Kom, six-time world boxing champion in the women’s category, told PTI during an interview in 2018 about her experience of losing two kilograms within just four hours.
To be allowed to compete, Mary Kom had to go through the exhausting process of weight loss hours before stepping into the ring at a competition she had come to Poland for where later she won her third gold medal this year.
“The plane arrived in Poland at around 3-3:30am. And by 7:30am was general weigh-in time,” she states simply. “At that point, my weight was slightly over 48kg, which is the category I fight.”
There was no other alternative, I would have been disqualified for being overweight at the general weigh-in if I did not do away with it within four hours. Nonetheless; For one hour nonstop, I skipped and just like that, I was ready.
Thankfully, we were on a near empty plane so when we landed there my legs would not be stiff from sleeping with them outstretched. Otherwise, who knows how I could have competed?
