Phogat, aged 29, had been eradicated after the weigh-in for being chubby, resulting in her being substituted by Lopez, whom she had defeated within the semifinal. Hildebrandt, 30, who had beforehand received a bronze on the Tokyo Video games, described the confusion she skilled through the weigh-in, initially mistaking Phogat’s absence for a forfeit.
“I ready for chaos, however that was not on my bingo card of chaos,” Hildebrandt was quoted as saying by PTI, explaining the sudden flip of occasions.
Hildebrandt thought Phogat had forfeited when she didn’t see her on the weigh-in.
“(Vinesh) wasn’t at weigh-ins, so I used to be in my head like, ‘Oh my gosh, this may be a chance.’ Then, we get the information that she did not make weight, and we had been beneath the impression that it was a forfeit. So, there was quite a lot of celebrating,” she recalled.
Nevertheless, she realized that her celebration was untimely.
“It was very unusual, like ‘Oh my god, I simply received the Olympics.’ Then an hour later, they had been like, ‘You didn’t win the Olympics.’ I am like, ‘Oh, that is very bizarre.’ So there needed to be a reset. I took a nap, awoke, and it was like a fever dream,” she added.
Phogat, who had moved to the 50kg class earlier this yr to compete within the Olympics, had taken excessive measures to make weight, together with staying hungry, avoiding fluids, and staying up all evening to sweat it out. Regardless of these measures, she was 100 grams over the restrict and have become dehydrated, necessitating IV fluids at a polyclinic within the Video games Village.
