Overwhelmed by the grand reception she received on her arrival from the Paris Olympics, wrestler Vinesh Phogat said her fight against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will continue and hoped that “truth will prevail”. Hundreds of supporters had gathered outside the IGI airport here on Saturday to give a rousing reception to Vinesh, who was disqualified for being overweight after reaching the 50kg final at the Olympics. Vinesh’s appeal against her disqualification was rejected by the ad hoc division of the Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On her way to Balali from Delhi, Vinesh was felicitated by her supporters and khap panchayats in several villages as she took nearly 13 hours to cover 135 km.
She reached her native village Balali around midnight and was warmly welcomed by the villagers. Her neighbours and friends greeted her with tears and smiles and patted her for her bravery. Exhausted after a tiring journey that began in Paris, Vinesh took a little rest and then addressed the gathering. “Our fight is not over yet and the fight will continue and I pray to God that truth will prevail,” Vinesh said in his address to the crowd.
During their sit-in at Jantar Mantar, Vinesh, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik spent nights on the streets accusing then WFI chairman Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually harassing women wrestlers. When they tried to march to the new Parliament building, they were chased away.
The case against Brij Bhushan is being heard by a court in Delhi.
Vinesh said the welcome she received upon her arrival would give her the courage to pick up the thread and move on with her life.
“The love of my fellow Indians, my village and my family gave me the courage to let this wound heal. Maybe I could return to wrestling,” said 29-year-old Vinesh.
“Missing the Olympic medal is the biggest wound in my life. I don’t know how much time it will take to heal this wound. I don’t know if I will continue wrestling or not, but I want to channel the courage I have today in the right direction,” she added.
Vinesh said she did not know whether she deserved the award or not.
“But I feel incredibly lucky to have been born in this village. I will always fight for the honor of women and this village.” The two-time medalist at the World Championships wished that someone from Blalai would surpass her achievements in wrestling.
She is a two-time CWG gold medalist, Asian Games champion and has won eight medals at the Asian Championships.
“I want from the bottom of my heart that someone from the village will carry on my legacy and break my records. If I can promote the women wrestlers of my village, that would be my greatest achievement,” she said.
Vinesh had announced her retirement from the sport after her disqualification.
In an emotional post on social media, Vinesh shared her childhood dream, the hardships she went through after losing her father and also spoke about the contribution people made to her extraordinary journey.
However, she did not mention her uncle Mahavir Phogat in the long post, which annoyed her cousins Geeta and Babita.
They had expressed their disappointment in veiled Twitter posts.
“The result of actions is simple. Cheating becomes cheating, if not today then tomorrow,” Geeta wrote in Hindi. She also posted several tweets questioning the reason why Vinesh forgot to mention the name of her uncle who had introduced her to the sport.
Geeta’s husband Pawan Saroha – also a wrestler – reminded Vinesh of Mahavir.
“You have written very well but maybe today you have forgotten your uncle Mahavir Phogat. Who started your wrestling career. May God grant you pure wisdom,” wrote Saroha.
Babita tweeted on Saturday: “Every success is a defeat when the only purpose is to bring everyone down.”
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