Paris 2024: Former wrestling world champion believes Vinesh Phogat should win silver medal, proposes rule changes to UWW

Olympic gold medallist Jordan Burroughs suggested on Wednesday that the United World Wrestling (UWW) must amend its rules to award the silver medal to Vinesh Phogat after the Indian wrestler failed to meet the cut during the pre-match weigh-in.

Vinesh was disqualified and will be ranked last in Paris 2024 after she exceeded the weight limit by a little over 100 grams. She was set to face USA’s Sarah Hilderbrandt in the final. The organisers later announced that Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to the Indian in semifinals, will take her place in the gold medal bout.

Burroughs took to X to say wrestlers should be allowed to have a 1kg relaxation during second day’s weigh-in and it should be pushed to 10:30am from the stipulated 8:30am to allow athletes more time to prepare for the weight cut.

He adds that if someone’s opponent fails to meet the weight standard in the final, it should be considered a ‘forfeit’ and the disallowed wrestler shoud automatically get the silver medal instead of finishing last on the leaderboard in their respective category.

“After a semifinal victory, both finalists’ medals are secured even if weight is missed on Day 2. Gold can only be won by a wrestler who makes weight on the second day,” Burroughs mentions in his post.