In a space of 48 hours, Vinesh Phogat has experienced peak human happiness and satisfaction, just before she experienced the shattering of her life’s dream. After winning against World No. 1 Yui Susaki in extraordinary fashion, Vinesh Phogat made her way into the Paris Olympics Final with her grit and determination.
The Haryana wrestler has seen everything life had to show her but still, her disqualification from the Final was what eventually broke her from the inside. After a long protest which had a huge negative impact on her image thanks to this country’s media and politics, she embarked on the journey of an Olympic Gold after missing out in 2016 and 2021. Now, so close to completing her dream, Vinesh Phogat couldn’t meet the 50 Kgs requirement before the Final and was subsequently disqualified.
The question remains, was this a large-scale controversy? OR was such a normie mistake made at this professional level by an Olympic finalist? In the end, all her preparation, her life’s struggles, and every single hurdle that Vinesh Phogat overcame leading up to this moment won’t matter anymore all because of 100 grams.
According to reports, Vinesh Phogat took extreme steps to try and reduce her weight to meet the official standards. She tried cutting down her hair, having sauna sessions to sweat more profusely, worked extra to lose the required weight, and even extracted some of her own blood to try and reduce weight. These extreme measures still were of no use and instead landed the Indian wrestler on the Hospital bed.
Many people believe that all of this was a huge controversy against her some people in power who would rather see Vinesh Phogat not win and succeed. And if that is true, they have surely succeeded in doing so. The 2nd youngest sister of the renowned Phogat sisters announced her retirement from Wrestling earlier this morning, just one day after her Olympic Disqualification.
Taking to X(Formerly known as Twitter), Phogat wrote,
“Mother, Wrestling won against me, I lost. Forgive me. Your dream, my courage, is all broken. I don’t have any more strength now.
Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024 🙏
I will always be indebted to you all for forgiveness 🙏🙏”
Vinesh Phogat’s story will be talked about for years to come. Her rise to glory, her Rio 2016 ACL injury, her disappointment in Tokyo, her protest against those in power and Brij Bhushan Singh, and finally her incomplete redemption in Paris.
It’s disheartening to see someone being brought down to their knees like this. Vinesh Phogat deserves all the appreciation in the world for the way she has donned the Indian colours and represented the nation. If anything, we can hope that history is kinder to her than circumstances were.
