Paris Olympics: Phogat says goodbye

Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

Paris Olympics: Phogat says goodbye

About the thumbnail image: The edited image is a meme uploaded to social media in 2023 by the Congress party with the words “Beti rulao”—in an apparent dig at PM Modi and the BJP, amid the wrestlers’ protests against then-WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh.

The context: Wrestling superstar Vinesh Phogat rocked the wrestling world—and India—on August 6. She first beat Japan’s Yui Susaki and Ukraine’s Oksana Livach. Then she beat Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzmán to qualify for the final—where she would have taken on US’ Sarah Hildebrandt—and become the first Indian woman to win an Olympics gold in wrestling. Then everything went terribly wrong.

The retirement: Phogat was disqualified on the morning of the final—to be held yesterday. Early this morning, she shared this heartbreaking note on X:

Mother, wrestling beat me, I lost. Your dream and my courage are all broken. I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024. I will forever be in your debt.

Wait, what happened? Phogat was disqualified for being 100 grams over 50 kilograms—the weight category in which she was competing. Her weight increased to 52.7 kg after she won her semifinal against Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzmán. She and the support staff were in a race to lose the extra 2.7 kg overnight. Sadly, when she went in for her weigh-in the next morning, Phogat was still 100 grams over the limit. She was immediately disqualified from competing in the final.

Point to note: Phogat appealed the decision—demanding she be awarded a joint silver medal—but to no avail.

100 grams? That’s it? Yes. Phogat violated something called Article 11—which places a hard cap in each weight category. You have to be below the ceiling—no exceptions allowed. Athletes are weighed each morning of the competition—as long as they are still competing. If they fail to attend the weigh-in, they are automatically disqualified. The only exception: If the wrestler has suffered an injury—in which case:

If an athlete is injured and can’t continue the bout, he will lose the match by injury. The concerned athlete won’t have to attend the second weigh-in and he will be ranked based on the points that he earned until his injury

Why was Phogat ‘overweight’? Ah, the answers to that are complicated. One answer: weight gain during a competition is common—mostly because they’re drinking a lot of liquids. That’s why athletes practise weight-cutting:

Sweating is one option; wrestlers weigh themselves down with heavy hooded jackets and train in an effort to sweat out a few drops. Water intake almost comes to a halt as wrestlers push themselves to the edge of dehydration.

That’s exactly what Phogat did—when she realised that she was more than 2 kg over the limit:

She was on the treadmill for six hours and in the sauna for another three. She didn’t consume a bite of food or drink a drop of water. Every few hours, she stood on a weighing scale. The numbers were getting smaller but not fast enough. In desperation, her coaches trimmed the elastic in the bottom of her costume. They thought of chopping her hair and then did it. But the scale didn’t budge.

Point to note: These kinds of extreme measures are common—and very much within the rules. That’s why Phogat’s disqualification sparked outrage among wrestlers—who are now demanding a rule change. Either get rid of the weigh-in on the second day of the competition—acknowledging the athlete’s need to keep themselves hydrated. Or offer an elbow room of 2 kg.

The officials say: The hard cap encourages athletes to compete at their “natural weight”—and don’t have to lose kilos while they’re competing.

The more complicated reason: Phogat typically competes in the 53 kg category. Last year, she gained weight due to a knee injury—and was around 59 kg. During her recovery, Antim Panghal won a bronze at the 2023 World Championships in the 53 kg category. This is where politics intervened.

The politics of weight: Wrestling Federation of India was run by Brij Bhushan Singh—the BJP MLA who is accused of sexual harassment. Last year, Phogat and her wrestlers staged angry protests against Singh. When Antim won her bronze in 2023, the Singh-led WFI awarded her the Olympics spot on the Indian team.

But, but, but: When Singh was ousted, the interim WFI promised Phogat that they would hold trials for the 53 kg category. That never happened—because Singh’s cabal won the next election in 2023—and he was back to pulling the strings. The WFI refused to hold trials despite Phogat’s repeated appeals.

Phogat—afraid of losing her Olympics shot—decided to compete in the 50 kg category. She had to lose a great amount of weight in the lead-up to the Games. That’s why she was so close to the upper limit. Btw, this is likely how she gained those 100 grams on August 7:

She had a celebratory glass of juice in the morning right after she had first made weight — 300 grams. She had another couple of litres of fluid to rehydrate herself before her bout — another 2000 grams of body weight gained. A couple of light snacks throughout the day to keep her energy up meant 700 grams more.

What happens now: The Games officials seem unwilling to budge. But there is a Court of Arbitration—which will take up the matter today. The Haryana government has announced it will award Phogat the same prize money and benefits as a medal winner: She is still a champion for us.

The truly ironic bit: Yesterday, Antim Panghal and her support staff were sent home due to a major disciplinary breach. Panghal asked her sister to pick up her stuff from the Olympics Village—using her accreditation. That’s illegal. Her sister was caught—and the entire lot has been deported. In any case, Panghal had already lost to Turkey’s Zeynep Yetgil in the women’s 53 kg category. (Mint)

Reading list: Sportstar has comprehensive coverage of Phogat’s battle against time to make the weigh-in as well as her eventual disqualification. ESPN provides some context on the intense weight-cutting wrestlers go through as part of training. Indian Express explains why Phogat gained weight in such a short span of time, and analyses the controversy over the wrestler selection process within India.

In other Indian news: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu—who had secured silver at Tokyo 2020—finished an agonising fourth this time in the women’s weightlifting 49 kg event. Avinash Sable finished in eleventh place in men’s 3000m steeplechase, but became the first Indian since 1976 to reach an Olympics track event final.

Olympics hurts air travel sales: Air Canada has reported weaker summer season sales than last year, partly because of the Paris Olympics. As many popular spots in the French capital are closed off due to the Games, tourists prefer to avoid flying to France entirely. (Globe and Mail, paywall, Quartz)

On a lighter note: Held thousands of miles away from Paris in Tahiti, the Olympics’ surfing event welcomed a surprise guest—a whale! Check out the cool cameo in the vid below.

Hindus targeted in Bangladesh

Ground reports reveal attacks on Hindu homes and temples by protesters. Minority organisation leaders say most are ordinary citizens—not members of the Awami League—Sheikh Hasina’s party. Student leaders have acknowledged the violence—and blame it on “those who want to ‘destroy’ the student movement.” There have been shows of solidarity in some places:

In the old quarter of Dhaka, Muslims stood side by side with their Hindu neighbours to protect a Hindu temple from a violent mob. Student leaders have formed volunteer groups to help guard other sites.

As expected, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will head the interim government. He was the number one choice of the students. Yunus’ first public statement urged restraint: “Violence is our enemy. Please don’t create more enemies. Be calm and get ready to build the country.” (New York Times)

Meanwhile, in India: BJP and other Hindu Right leaders are calling on New Delhi to intervene:

If this situation doesn’t come under control, mentally be prepared to give refuge to 10 million Hindu refugees. If the situation is not controlled there, Jamaat and radicals will take control.

The Guardian has that story. Al Jazeera looks at what to expect from Yunus.

A democratic setback in Thailand

The context: Thailand went to the polls in 2023 and—after a decade of military rule—voted for opposition parties, with the Move Forward Party—led by the charismatic Pita Limjaroenrat with a pro-democracy platform—emerging as the single largest with 151 out of 500 seats and receiving support from the second largest party, Pheu Thai (see our Big Story). However, Pita couldn’t secure enough votes from the military-appointed senate to become PM. Later in 2023, the coalition between Move Forward and Pheu Thai collapsed.

What happened now: On Wednesday, a Thai court unanimously dissolved the Move Forward Party—at the request of the Thai Election Commission. The reason: The party wanted to amend Thailand’s draconian lese majeste law—which deems any criticism of the royal family as a crime. Move Forward’s leaders have been banned from politics for a decade—but they have vowed to keep fighting. Why this matters: This is a huge setback for Thailand’s hope for democratic rule—and seals the might of the military. (CNN)

Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka: In 2022, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was hounded out by protesters—not unlike Sheikh Hasina (see: this Big Story). He too was corrupt and authoritarian. Now, his nephew Namal Rajapaksa announced plans to compete in the upcoming presidential election—to be held on September 21. Namal will take on Gotabaya’s successor and rival Ranil Wickremesinghe—proving once again that netas on the subcontinent are political zombies, forever rising from the dead. (Al Jazeera)

Elon Musk is now suing advertisers

The X CEO is suing the World Federation of Advertisers—accusing them of a “massive advertiser boycott” after he bought the platform. The Federation includes big players such as Unilever, Mars, CVS Health, and Orsted. Specifically, he takes aim at WFA’s Global Alliance for Responsible Media—which allegedly helped coordinate the effort. The companies OTOH insist they control their own ad spend—and fled X because of a spike in hateful content—to protect their brand. FYI: Musk claims X has lost “billions of dollars in advertising revenue.” This has affected the company’s revenue as it earned $114 million in the US in the second quarter—a 25% decline from the first, and a 53% decline from the same period last year. (Associated Press)

It’s hotter and wetter in India

A new study reports that 84% of districts in India are prone to extreme heatwaves. Of these, 70% are experiencing more frequent and intense heavy rainfall. These are spread across the country—so no region is immune. The other dismal bit of data: Extreme heatwave days increased 15X in the past three decades—with a 19X increase just in the last 10 years. FYI: Eight out of 10 Indians are likely to be highly exposed to extreme climate events by 2036. The Print has more on the study. Also see: this Big Story, which explains how El Niño works.

In lemon/lemonade news: New research shows that sales for high heels are plummeting in the UK. They accounted for 47% of all non-flat shoe sales in 2014. The percentage today: 17%. The reason: Covid. Yes, some good things did come from that wretched virus. (The Times UK, paywall, NDTV)

Welcome to the age of vertical cities

For decades, experts have been worried about urban sprawl—cities spreading further and further out. New research shows that trend may be changing over the last 30 years:

As a general rule, the rate at which cities have been expanding outwards has slowed since the 1990s, while the speed at which they are growing vertically is speeding up. The findings were true across continents, though the trend was especially strong in Asia.

In other words, buildings are getting taller—creating denser populations—rather than spreading out into the suburbs. Data point to note: “In the 1990s, only 7% of land in these cities was occupied by tall buildings, a figure that increased to 28% in the 2010s.” Also: 56% of the world’s population lives in cities. That number will jump to 70% by 2050. So get ready for lots of very tall buildings—which oddly makes us think of ‘Blade Runner’ (eeks). (Gizmodo)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Axios is laying off 50 employees—or 10% of the company—with CEO Jim VandeHei stating that the company needs to adapt to the ever evolving media business.
In other layoffs news, Dell has cut 12,500 jobs—mostly in sales—in order to "reorganise its business for the AI era, become leaner, and focus on growth".
YouTube is experimenting with a potential feature to allow creators to run ads alongside livestreams in a picture-in-picture format.
China is developing alternatives to SpaceX’s Starlink network. The first of these projects is Qianfan satellites—18 of which were launched into orbit on August 6.

sports & entertainment

Mr Worldwide and college football crossover? Pitbull has bought the naming rights to Florida International University’s football stadium. The result: Pitbull Stadium!
Suga—of the iconic K-pop group BTS—has posted an apology to his fans for driving an electric scooter while drunk.

as for the rest

Researchers continue to improve their understanding of how the physics behind nuclear fusion works—thanks to mayonnaise.
Doctors in Vietnam had to perform surgery on a man to remove a two-foot eel that was chewing through his intestines after he had inserted it up his butt. Yes, it’s as bizarre and disgusting as it sounds.
It’s winter in Antarctica, but the continent is currently experiencing a spell of warm weather, unrelated to climate change. The reason: a rare stratospheric warming.
Sexologist and dating coach Myisha Battle makes her case that reading more romance novels offers sexual benefits.

five things to see

One: Did Taylor Swift secretly endorse Kamala Harris and Tim Walz during her 'Eras Tour' performance in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday? Even the possibility has really pissed off Republicans, who would rather she "just perform" and not bring her politics on stage. According to Rolling Stone, it may not have been a silhouette of Kamala at all—just one of her dancers walking away.

Two: Say hello to two new Banksy murals—painted in southwest London. Social media is full of theories on what the goat and elephants symbolise. ArtNews has more.

Three: BMW hooked up with Figure AI collab to bring AI robots to its assembly line. You can see the trial run below—though there is no date for when they will be actually rolled out. (Ars Technica)

Four: Homo floresiensis aka The Hobbit were a small-statured species that lived 100,000 to 50,000 years ago. All their remains have been found on a single island: Flores, Indonesia. New research suggests the island may have been home to an even smaller human species. Scientists have found fossils that belong to an adult just 3.28 feet (100 cm) tall. (Gizmodo)

Five: Alfonso Cuarón—best known for ‘Roma’ and ‘Gravity’—has teamed up with iconic Cate Blanchett for a seven-part thriller series called ‘Disclaimer*’. It is slated to release on October 11 on Apple TV+. (Variety)