After wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Paris Olympics 2024, the only question arising in people’s minds was what did Vinesh eat when her weight increased by more than 2 kg a day before. Why could Vinesh’s coach, dietician, and health experts together not reduce her weight? The reality is that before the matches in the Olympics or other such events, wrestlers are not given even water, let alone food. During the weight test before the game, all the water is squeezed out of the body. That is, the body has to be completely dehydrated.
Why could Vinesh Phogat not lose weight?
Now you need to understand why the body stops sweating and then why it becomes difficult to lose even 1 gram of weight. Actually, after reaching a stage, the body stops sweating. Lack of sweating is an indication that now there is almost no water in your body. In such a condition, if any kind of workout is done with your body, then it can be a life-threatening situation for you. This is the reason why Vinesh had to be admitted to the hospital due to dehydration.
The 24 hours before the event are the most difficult for wrestlers
Wrestler Deepak Punia had to drop out of the Rome Ranking Series and Ravi Dahiya from the Tokyo Olympics due to being overweight. These athletes say that the 24 hours before the event are very difficult. Due to being overweight, most wrestlers have to reduce their diet to zero before their event. They have to train without eating. They even have to give up water. So that they can fit into their weight category. Wrestlers have to do rigorous exercises before the event. Workouts are done with thick jackets to sweat as much as possible. Water is reduced from the body through water retention.
The balance of body and mind starts deteriorating
According to dietician Swati, ‘Hunger and lack of water in the body can sometimes make a player irritable. The brain stops working. Many times in such a situation, the athlete faints or falls due to dizziness.’ When so much hard work has to be done to control the weight, then you can imagine what the condition of a player would be during the event.