Watch: Vinesh Phogat back training first time since Paris Olympics heartbreak

“Women can’t lose more than 3 kg in a day when you are at peak fitness because your fat percent is already very low. Men wrestlers can but we cannot because our body retains water. All women athletes are concerned about the weight cut on the second day. At the Games Village, there were at least 50 athletes, from different sports, who hugged me and said that this is wrong,” Phogat said at the time.

According to UWW Olympics weigh-in rules, wrestlers have to weigh in on the morning of their competition. But before the weigh-in on Day 1, a wrestler is supposed to appear at a medical examination with their licence and accreditation, while wearing their singlet.

After the Olympics heartbreak Vinesh joined the Congress party and won in Julana constituency as MLA in the Haryana Assembly elections. The 29-year-old says that the decision to join politics was tough but that was her option. “You have to enter the system. Brij Bhushan is surviving because he is powerful politically. So we have to be powerful also.”

“If we don’t have power, two years of struggle will go down the drain).” Vinesh also explained the choice to join Congress. “If you are getting into the messy world of politics, you should go with those who have supported you. When we were on dharna, there was a lot of respect from the Congress,” she said.