India’s star wrestler Vinesh Phogat suffered a major setback in the Paris Olympics. A few hours before the final of 50 kg wrestling, he was disqualified due to being overweight by just 100 grams. Vinesh is getting support from all over the world. In this sequence, Japan Olympic champion Rie Higuchi has also supported Vinesh and said that she can understand her pain, because she too was thrown out due to being only 50 grams more than the qualifier.
In fact, Higuchi, the gold medalist in the men’s 57 kg freestyle event, was eliminated from the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers three years ago for being only 50 grams overweight. He also ultimately lost a playoff match and could not compete in his home Olympics despite being highly ranked at the time.
‘I understand your pain very well’
In Paris Olympics, Higuchi won the gold medal by defeating India’s Aman Sehrawat in the semi-finals of 57 kg freestyle category. Earlier, he had won the silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. While supporting Vinesh Phogat, he has said that recovering from failures is the most beautiful thing. Commenting on Vinesh’s announcement of retirement from wrestling, he wrote on It’s a beautiful thing, rest well.”
Higuchi had blamed junk food
After winning gold in Paris, Higuchi, while talking to ‘Japan News’, recalled the disappointment he faced in Tokyo and blamed his fondness for junk food at that time. He said, “I have gone through a lot of setbacks and disappointments, but I managed to succeed by believing in myself. Still, I don’t think I could have won the gold medal with my efforts alone.”
Vinesh has filed a petition against the disqualification at CAS.
Let us tell you that 29 year old Vinesh had defeated Cuban wrestler Guzman Lopez in the semi-finals. After this, she had to have a final match with American wrestler Sarah Ann Hildebrandt for the gold medal. But during weighing before the match, he was disqualified due to being 100 grams overweight. An appeal has been filed against his disqualification in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In this they have jointly demanded to be given silver medal. The decision on his petition is yet to come. The eyes of 140 crore people of India are on this decision.