‘…Can’t support decision to give silver medal to Vinesh Phogat’: Olympic champion wrestler Rei Higuchi | Olympics

Few people can relate to Vinesh Phogat better than Rei Higuchi. The Japanese wrestler who won gold in men’s freestyle 57kg at the Paris Olympics 2024, was once disqualified from the Asian Olympic qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics for failing the weigh-ins ahead of the competitions. He was one of the top contenders in that category as he had already won the silver medal in Rio but Rei Higuchi could not even compete at the Tokyo Games in front of his home ground.

The 28-year-old fought back to not only qualify for the Paris Games but also claim the gold medal. This was his first Olympic gold. A couple of days before he was about to compete for the gold medal, Vinesh Phogat had to face the heartbreak of the cruellest nature in the women’s 50kg category.

The 29-year-old Indian wrestler was disqualified hours before her historic gold medal bout because she was 100gms heavier than the permissible weight limit. She lost her assured medal. She filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sports for a joint silver medal. But the incident left such a deep scar that Vinesh announced retirement the next morning.

Rei Higuchi was one of the first global athletes to recognize this. He asked Vinesh to stay strong and not listen to negative voices around her.

“I posted it without knowing whether anyone would be interested. I thought I could best understand how the Indian athlete felt because I made the same mistake (Higuchi missed the Tokyo Olympics after he came in above the weight limit at the Asian Olympic qualifiers). I gave it my all and experienced the same frustration and despair. I posted this in the hope that Vinesh doesn’t care what people around her say. I just wanted her to take it slow and go forward from there. When I went through that situation, I had the support of many people. Without that support, I would not have been able to recover from my failure,” Rei Higuchi told Sportstar.

As the world awaits the CAS verdict on Vinesh Phogat’s matter – the decision has already been deferred twice. The next update is expected on August 16 – Rei Higuchi said as much as he feels for Vinesh, he can’t see her getting the silver medal. The United World Wrestling rules clearly state that if a wrestler faisl the weigh-in process at any point during the competition then he or she is disqualified and given the last spot.

“Unfortunately, the current rules won’t allow me to support that decision,” he said when asked whether Vinesh should get the silver medal.

The Japanese Olympic champion, however, said he was not in favour of two weigh-ins during a two-day wrestling event. “I don’t like the rules where you have to make weight for the second day, but we play sports by the rules. And the rules are the same for everyone,” he added.