Vinesh Phogat was overcome with emotion upon arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, following the heartbreak she endured at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The last 10 days have been incredibly challenging for Vinesh Phogat, who has experienced an emotional ordeal that no athlete would wish to face. However, she is finally home. India didn’t need an Olympic medal to recognize her greatness—Vinesh Phogat was, is, and always will be a champion. That’s the sentiment that greeted her at the airport on Saturday morning when she returned from Paris.
As Vinesh arrived in the national capital, she was met with a heavy security presence. The sight of hundreds of fans cheering her name proved too overwhelming for the 29-year-old wrestler, and she broke down in tears. Her teammates and friends, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, were by her side to console her.
Vinesh, adorned with garlands, stood in an open Jeep and expressed her gratitude to the supporters. “I thank the entire country,” she said, her hands folded in a gesture of humility. A large procession is set to accompany Vinesh as she makes her way to her village, Balali, in Haryana.
On the day of her historic gold medal bout in the women’s 50kg wrestling category, August 7, Vinesh Phogat was found to be 100 grams overweight. This minor discrepancy led to her disqualification and the loss of her podium finish, as per the rules of United World Wrestling and the International Olympic Committee. All the hard work Vinesh had put in the previous day—including an extraordinary victory against four-time world champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the first round, followed by two more wins that made her the first Indian female wrestler to reach an Olympic final—was nullified.
Despite the efforts of Vinesh’s coaches, doctors, and the Indian Olympic Association, they were unable to overturn the decision. However, they remained hopeful and filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a joint silver medal. The hearing took place on August 9, and after several delays, CAS ultimately ruled against Vinesh, dismissing her appeal on Wednesday.
Earlier, Vinesh had taken to social media to share an emotional post, reflecting on her childhood dream and the hardships she faced after losing her father. She also acknowledged the contributions of those who supported her throughout her extraordinary journey, which ended in heartbreak at the Paris Olympics.
“…All I want to say is that we did not give up, our efforts did not stop, and we did not surrender, but the clock stopped and time was not fair. So was my fate,” she wrote, referencing the work she and her team did before the second-day weigh-in.
Addressing her team, fellow Indians, and her family, Vinesh expressed her deep disappointment, saying, “It feels like the goal we were working towards, and what we had planned to achieve, is unfinished. Something might always remain missing, and things might never be the same again.”
In a state of dejection, Vinesh announced her retirement from wrestling the day after her disqualification. However, on Friday, she offered a glimmer of hope to her fans.
“Maybe under different circumstances, I could see myself playing till 2032 because the fight in me and wrestling in me will always be there. I can’t predict what the future holds for me, and what awaits me in this journey next, but I am sure that I will continue to fight always for what I believe in and for the right thing,” she wrote.
