Hours after flop show on the mat, Antim Panghal and entourage to be deported for serious security breach

Antim Panghal and entourage to be deported for serious security breach at Paris Olympics 2024.

Just 48 hours ago, Antim Panghal was Indian wrestling’s poster girl. The 19-year-old was a strong medal hopeful in the women’s 53kg freestyle category, having sealed in the Olympic quota in the weight class in which Vinesh Phogat had won Commonwealth Games gold in 2022. But if August 6 was Terrific Tuesday for Indian sport – with Vinesh reaching the 50kg final and Neeraj Chopra effortlessly flinging the javelin close to 90m in qualifying for today’s final – then August 7 was Woeful Wednesday, one of the worst days in living memory.

Vinesh’s disqualification after failing to make her weight by 100g dominated the morning headlines, but after a day in which athlete after athlete fell by the wayside in their events, it was Antim’s plight that most cruelly mocked India’s shattered Olympic campaign.

Not only was she comprehensively beaten 10-0 by Turkey’s Zeynep Yetgil inside 101 seconds, but Antim ended the day facing up to the possible end of her career as the French authorities deported her and her support team for serious breaches of competition security. “The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has decided to fly wrestler Antim and her support staff back after a disciplinary breach was brought to IOA's notice by the French authorities,” said an IOA statement.

After her disaster on the mat in the morning, Antim had apparently accompanied Bhagat Singh and Vikas, her two coaches, to the hotel where they were staying. She then sent Nisha, her sister, with her accreditation card to gather her belongings from the Athletes Village. The Village is a ‘sanitised’ zone, with entry only for those who have been accredited, and Nisha was quickly caught and taken to a local police station. The authorities subsequently summoned Antim as well.

The build-up to the Paris Olympics were dominated by fears of terror attacks, and the arson attacks that shut down vast stretches of the Paris Metro on the day of the opening ceremony only made the authorities more vigilant. In such a circumstance, it was entirely understandable that the authorities reacted how they did, when they caught a random stranger entering a space meant only for accredited athletes and support staff.

Antim was India’s first junior wrestling world champion, winning the title in 2022 and 2023. She subsequently took a bronze medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games as well. But world wrestling events have all the gravitas of a village fete next to the Olympics, and it’s clear that the athlete was not properly briefed on how to conduct herself on such a big stage. If she was, the lessons didn’t get through.

To make matters worse, there were stories doing the rounds of Antim’s coaches getting into an altercation with a cab driver while inebriated, and refusing to pay their fare. The entire crew will be flown back home today, with each of their futures very much up in the air.

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