Sarah Hildebrandt who won gold after Vinesh Phogat was disqualified reveals chaos on the day

In a low blow of a development for the Indian contingent in Paris, Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the 50kg wrestling final because she was about 100 grams over the stipulated weight.

Vinesh Phogat being disqualified for missing weight meant that the woman she beat in the semi-final, Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman, was asked to take Vinesh Phogat’s spot in the final. There, she ran into American wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt, who brushed aside the Cuban’s challenge to win gold.

Sarah Hildebrandt dominated the match, defeating Guzman 3-0 to secure the Olympic title. The American wrestler, who previously won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

But the day saw a bizarre sequence of events for the American wrestler as well, as she detailed in an interview with an American wrestling website. She revealed that she was initially told after Vinesh Phogat missed weight that she had won gold. But an hour later, she was asked to lace up and get on the mat to play in the final against Guzman. She termed the situation as “chaotic”.

Vinesh Phogat reacts after the round of 16 of the women’s freestyle 50kg wrestling match against Japan’s Yui Susaki, at Champ-de-Mars Arena, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. In a shocking reversal of fortunes, Vinesh Phogat was disqualified on Wednesday from the Paris Olympics after she was found overweight ahead of her women’s 50kg final match. (AP Photo via PTI)

“You prepare for unknowns and stuff, but this was anything but,” said Sarah Hildebrandt, who had kind words for Vinesh Phogat.

“She had an amazing day (Tuesday), did an insane feat and I don’t think she saw that happening — ending her Olympics like that — so, for sure, my heart goes out to her. She’s an amazing competitor, an amazing wrestler and person. It sucks, but at the end of the day it’s part of the job. We’ve all got to get it done, as shitty as it is, and I make sure my weight cut is in line, and it’s something I invest a lot of time in and it obviously pays off in the end.”

She said that on the day of the final, she noticed something was amiss when Vinesh Phogat had failed to turn up for the weight-ins on the morning of the final. Since Hildebrandt had seen Vinesh at the sauna in the morning, she realised that the Indian was struggling.

“So I knew it was a possibility that (Vinesh) missed weight. I didn’t want to get wrapped up in it. Somebody was there on the floor to keep me updated.”

On her way to breakfast, Hildebrandt got a phone call stating that she had won the gold medal. An hour later, she learned that while Vinesh Phogat was indeed dropped to last place in the bracket she would be replaced in the finals by Guzman.

“It was like ‘psych! You’re not an Olympic champion’. It was such a roller coaster. I had to instantly refocus. My plans for the day were very specific when I was going to wrestle. But when I learnt that I needed to fight, the timeframes for things I needed to do had already gone past. It was crazy. It was chaos!”

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