Olympics 2024: Babita Phogat asks cousin Vinesh to reconsider retirement

Commonwealth Games gold medallist grappler Babita Phogat on Thursday urged her cousin Vinesh to reconsider her decision to retire from wrestling following her disqualification from the 50kg category competition ahead of the gold medal bout at the Paris Olympics.

Competing in her third Olympics, Vinesh was found to be 100 grams overweight during the weigh-in ahead of her summit clash against USA's Sarah Ann Hildebrandt, following which she was disqualified and became ineligible for a medal.

As Vinesh's long-cherished Olympic dream shattered by a cruel twist of fate, the 29-year-old bid adieu to her international wrestling career, saying that she doesn't have the strength to continue anymore.

"In 2012, even I was not able to play the Asian Championship because I was overweight by 200 grams. There are several other instances where wrestlers have been disqualified for being overweight. The entire world knows this happened because of the (wrestling) rules," Babita, a former world ...