Haren
It is 1.15am and having attended more than 20 felicitation ceremonies after she arrives at the Delhi Airport, wrestler Vinesh Phogat is given gifts, given pagdis (turbans) apart from small cash awards by more than 60 individuals at the felicitation ceremony at her village Balali. As the 1,000-odd crowd cheers for Vinesh, the wrestler finally opens up about the disappointment of missing out on a medal in the Olympics after she was disqualified for being overweight by 100 grams in the Paris Olympics.
“I just want to say that missing the Olympic medal is the biggest wound in my life. I don’t know how much time it would have taken to heal this wound. But as I got love from my fellow Indians, my village and my family members, I guess I would get some courage to make this wound heal. Maybe, I could return to wrestling. 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. Our fight has not ended and the fight will continue and I pray to god that the truth will prevail,” said Vinesh Phogat while addressing the crowd.
The wrestler was returning home after the biggest heartbreak of her wrestling career. Having been disqualified after being overweight by 100gms ahead of the women’s 50 kg final against USA’s Sarah Hildebrandtlast week in Paris, Phogat was making her first public appearance in India.
An exhausted Vinesh Phogat fainted during the felicitation ceremony at her village in Balali, Haryana. (Express Photos by Jasbir Malhi)
Accompanied by brother Harvinder Phogat along with mother Premlata and brother-in-law Bajrang Punia, the 29-year-old was patted on the back by the village women at Balali on her return and was embraced by some of her village friends. With the villagers as well youth committees doling out cash awards along with other honours for her, the 29-year-old would accept the honours with folded hands before refusing to take up cash honours from some of the village kids and elders. With more than 90 minutes on the stage, the wrestler would also almost faint before being given ORS twice.
“I still don’t know whether I deserve all the accolades or not. But I feel myself to be the luckiest to be born in this village. I want to clear this debt of my village and I assure that I will always fight for the honour of the women and of this village. I want it from the bottom of my heart that somebody from the village carries my legacy and even breaks my records. I will be always indebted for the soil of my country as well Balali. And if I can promote the women wrestlers of my village as the country in whatever way I could, it would be my biggest achievement,” said Vinesh.
Mother Premlata had been awake since early morning to get her daughter from the airport but gets emotional, forgetting her tiredness of the whole day as she heads ahead to welcome Vinesh at the village entrance. “Jab gaon se gayi thi Paris ke liye tab bhi iski success ke liye Bhagwan se manga tha aur aaj jab wapis lauti hai toh bhi iski success safalta hi mangi hai (When she left for Paris, we prayed to god for her success and today when she has returned, we again ask god for her success. Medal aye na aye, hamre liye sabse badi success yeh hai ki meri beti ne apne ladne ki taqat puri duniya ko dikha di (medal or no medal, the biggest thing for us is that my daughter has shown her power of fighting to the whole world,” said the proud mother.
