Why weight cutting is harder for women in combat sports

India’s youngest Olympic bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat had to lose 4.6kg in 10 hours to be eligible to compete in his crucial medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics. That was just a few days after Vinesh Phogat, who had reached the final in the women’s 50kg wrestling event, was deemed a stubborn 100 grams overweight on the day of the gold-medal bout.

Prior to competition, athletes from combat sport such as wrestling, boxing, judo and mixed martial arts, among others, are required to have their body mass verified.

Combat sports categorize athletes into weight divisions to minimize disparities in size, strength, range and leverage between competitors. To ensure that athletes meet the weight requirements for their respective divisions, official weigh-ins are conducted before the bouts.

To make weight, athletes often undergo the gruelling process of weight cutting or weight control. Phogat failed to make weight during the weigh-in, resulting in her disqualification.

Weight cutting is a well-known practice across weight category sports. But if Sehrawat was able to shed those 4.6kgs overnight, why did Phogat fail despite doing the same things?

The process of weight cutting, undeniably tough, is often more difficult for women.

This argument also formed the basis of Phogat’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, where her team sought a shared...

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