Gurpreet Singh became the second Indian wrestler in the last fortnight to be disqualified from a Rio Olympics qualification event for being overweight. Singh was contesting the Greco-Roman 75kg category competition at the second World Qualifying tournament in Istanbul and was found overweight by 500 gm, Wrestling Federation of India Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar told PTI. The tournament was the last chance for wrestlers to secure Olympic berths.
"Gurpreet has wasted the government's money. He has been training in Georgia for a month now and maintaining weight is a part of training. But he has let the Federation as well the country down," Tomar said. The WFI further said that stern action will be taken against Singh for wasting a weight category, possibly a suspension. The Federation added that coaches cannot be held responsible as they had "tried their best to get Gurpreet into shape", but he "remained defiant".
In April, wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified for being overweight at the first World Qualification tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
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