Olympic bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat’s World Championship campaign ended before it began, with the 22-year-old wrestler disqualified in Zagreb on Sunday after being found overweight by nearly two kilograms.

The men’s freestyle 57kg contender, hailed as one of India’s brightest medal prospects, was 1.7kg above the permissible limit during the official weigh-in. The setback delivered a severe jolt to the Indian contingent and raised fresh questions about weight management practices.

“It’s unfortunate and surprising that Aman could not maintain his weight. He was overweight by 1700 grams when he stood in the weight scale. This is not acceptable, actually. How did he get so much extra weight is beyond us,” a source within the Indian contingent informed from Zagreb.

Unlike the World Cup and UWW Ranking Series events, where a two-kilogram tolerance is permitted, the World Championships and Olympics do not allow any relaxation. The regulations, published by United World Wrestling in 2023, leave no room for excess weight in marquee events.

What has baffled coaches is that Aman had arrived in Croatia on August 25, almost three weeks ahead of the competition, to undergo an acclimatisation and training camp. Despite the extended preparation window, he failed to meet his category requirement.

A product of Delhi’s famed Chhatrasal Stadium, Aman had entered the tournament carrying the weight of expectation after his bronze-winning performance at the Paris Olympics. Since then, he has featured in only one international meet, the Ulaanbaatar Open in June, where he picked up a bronze after losing in the semifinals to Mexico’s Roman Bravo-Young.

Also read: Pooja punches her way to World Championships semis

The incident comes less than a month after India’s Neha Sangwan was disqualified from the U20 World Championships in Bulgaria for exceeding her weight by 600g. Neha, also named in the senior squad for Zagreb, was subsequently dropped by the Wrestling Federation of India and handed a two-year suspension for “consistent weight management issues”.

It is the first such episode involving a leading Indian wrestler since Vinesh Phogat was disqualified at the Paris Olympics after weighing in 100g over the women’s 50kg limit just before her gold medal bout.

“You know, the government has spent at least 7-8 lakh on each wrestler selected for the World Championship in Zagreb. The stay expense was at least Euro 140 during the two-week training camp and it’s Euro 200 during the tournament.

It is the wrestler’s responsibility to maintain weight. There has to be some explanation. Almost 2kg more than the permissible weight is unbelievable,” said a coach with the Indian contingent.

The Wrestling Federation of India now faces the decision of whether to penalise Aman, as it did with Neha, or offer him protection on account of his star stature.

Also read: Aman Sehrawat shed 4.6 kilos in 10 hours for bronze