Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s Hungarian coach, Woller Akos, has broken his silence on the weight-cutting process and Paris Olympics saga. He revealed that he feared for Vinesh’s life during the extreme weight-cutting process. Vinesh was 2.7kg overweight after winning her semi-final bout in the 50kg category at the Paris Olympics 2024. The final was scheduled for the following day.
The 29-year-old wrestler tried everything possible to reduce her weight. Ultimately, she was unsuccessful and disqualified from the final for being 100g overweight. In a now-deleted Facebook post, Akos detailed Vinesh’s intense struggle to lose excess weight and expressed his fear.
Akos’s Facebook Post
Akos shared, “After the semi-final, 2.7 kg of excess weight remained. Despite exercising for an hour and twenty minutes, 1.5 kg still persisted. A subsequent 50-minute sauna session produced no sweat. Desperate, she worked on various cardio machines and wrestling moves from midnight to 5:30 am, with short breaks. She collapsed multiple times but persevered, followed by another sauna session. I don’t intend to dramatise, but I genuinely feared for her life.”
Vinesh is brave- Akos
Akos described a conversation they had before the weigh-in. “Returning from the hospital, Vinesh said, ‘Coach, don’t be sad. I’ve beaten the world’s best (Japan’s Yui Susaki). I achieved my goal, proving I’m one of the best. Our game plan worked. Medals are just objects; performance endures.’ “
“We’ll always be proud of defeating the world’s best woman wrestler and reaching the Olympic final for the first time,” he wrote, highlighting Vinesh’s victory over world No. 1 Japan’s Yui Susaki in the first round.
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