According to UWW (United World Wrestling) rules, wrestlers have the right, each in turn, to get on the scale as many times as they wish throughout the weigh-in period.
"If an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he will be eliminated of the competition and ranked last, without rank," the rule states. The Indian wrestling contingent was expectedly distraught. "Everyone here is feeling as if someone in the family has died. We don't know what has struck us. Everyone is shocked," India's national women's coach Virender Dahiya said.
Cutting weight is a painful process that wrestlers have to endure if their natural body weight is higher than the division in which they compete. Vinesh's natural body weight is about 56-57kg and it takes massive effort for her to get down to 50kg.
While in invitational tournaments, UWW allows for a grace of upto 2kg, no such relaxation exists for showpieces like Olympics, the world championships and the Asian Championships.
Athletes competing in contact sports go without food and even water two days before the weigh-in. Boxer Nikhat Zareen had said after her defeat in Paris that she did not take either food or water for two days to stay within the weight limit and lost strength as a result.
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