Overwhelmed by the grand reception she received on her arrival from the Paris Olympics, Vinesh Phogat said it would be a matter of great pride for her if she could train women wrestlers from her village Balali to become more successful than her.
On her way to Balali from Delhi, Vinesh was felicitated by her supporters and ‘khap’ panchayats in several villages, with the 135km-long journey taking her almost 13 hours on Saturday.
This was after hundreds of supporters gathered outside the IGI airport on Saturday to give a rousing welcome to Vinesh who was disqualified for being overweight after reaching the 50kg final at the Olympics.
Her disqualification had created a furore in India and the wrestling world.
Vinesh’s appeal against her disqualification was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Vinesh reached her native village around midnight and was accorded a grand welcome by the villagers. Her neighbours and friends met her with tears and smiles and patted her for the courage she had shown.
Exhausted after a tiring journey that began in Paris, Vinesh addressed the gathering before calling it a day.
The two-time World Championships medallist wished that someone from Balali would better her wrestling achievements.
“It would be disappointing if no wrestler emerged from this village. We have paved the way, given hope with our achievements. I request you all to support the women in this village. They need your support, hope and trust if they have to replace us in future,” Vinesh said.
“They can achieve a lot. All they need is your support. I will always be indebted to this nation, this village for giving me so much love and respect.
“Whatever I have learnt in wrestling, I don’t know if that is god-gifted or my hard work but whatever I have I would like to share with my sisters from this village and I wish they achieve greater heights than me.
“I can then say with pride that she is from my village and I have trained her. I want that (my) records are broken by wrestlers from this village. Thank you all for staying up so late in the night for me.”
Vinesh is a two-time CWG gold medallist, Asian Games champion and has won eight Asian Championships medals.
Before arriving in Balali, Vinesh had said that her fight against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) would continue.
“I want to thank all the people who supported us in our struggle. Life itself is a struggle. Our fight has not ended and it will continue,” said Vinesh.
During their sit-in at Jantar Mantar, Vinesh along with Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik had spent several months on the streets.
They had accused the then WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment of women grapplers. They were evicted when they tried to march towards the new Parliament building.
The case against Brij Bhushan is being heard by a Delhi court.
Vinesh said that the welcome she had received on arrival would give her the courage to pick up the threads and get on with life.
“As I got love from my fellow Indians, my village and my family members, it would give me some courage to make this wound heal. Maybe, I could return to wrestling,” said the 29-year-old Vinesh.
“Missing the Olympic medal is the biggest wound in my life. I don’t know how much time it would take to heal this wound. I don’t know if I would pursue wrestling or not but the kind of courage I got today, I want to use that in the right direction,” she added.
Vinesh said she does not know if she “deserves so much love and respect”.
“But I feel extremely lucky to be born in this village. I would always fight for the honour of the women and of this village.”
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 faced after losing her father, and also put on record the contribution made by people in her extraordinary journey.
However, she did not mention her uncle Mahavir Phogat, something that irked her cousin sisters Geeta and Babita.
They expressed their disappointment in veiled social media posts.
“The result of deeds is simple. Deceit gets deceit, if not today then tomorrow,” Geeta wrote on ‘X’ in Hindi and re-posted several comments that questioned why Vinesh forgot to mention her uncle, who initiated her into the sport.
Geeta’s husband Pawan Saroha, also a wrestler, reminded Vinesh about Mahavir.
“You have written very well but perhaps today you have forgotten your uncle Mahavir Phogat. Who started your wrestling career. May god give you pure wisdom,” wrote Saroha.
“Every success is a defeat if the sole purpose is to bring everybody down,” Babita wrote on ‘X’ on Saturday.(PTI)
