TWO DAYS after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) verdict ended Vinesh Phogat’s hopes of getting a silver medal at the Paris Games, the wrestler, in an emotional social media post Friday, spoke about her attachment to the national flag and her regret of missing out on being on the Olympics podium while carrying it.
Recalling last year’s protest against former chief of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and a photo frame of her lying on the street near Jantar Mantar next to the Tricolour, she said, “During the wrestlers’ protest I was fighting hard to protect the sanctity of women in India, the sanctity and values of our Indian flag. But when I look at the pictures of me with the Indian flag from 28th May 2023, it haunts me,” she wrote.
At Paris, Phogat by virtue of reaching the 50 kg final was assured of at least a silver but was disqualified on the morning of her final after she was found to be 100 grams overweight.
Expressing regret over the close miss, she said: “It was my wish to have the Indian flag fly high this Olympics, to have a picture of the Indian flag with me that truly represents its value and restores its sanctity. I felt that by doing this it will correctly represent what the flag went through and what wrestling went through.”
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 16, 2024
Towards the end of the three-page post, Phogat, who had announced her retirement after her disqualification, hinted that she could make a comeback to the sport that has defined her life, and where she has “unfinished business”.
“The goal that we were working towards and what we had planned to achieve is unfinished, that something might always remain missing, and that things might never be the same again,” she wrote.
“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 ended the note.
The post was also about her journey from an interior village in Haryana to the Olympics stage, her father who died when she was nine and her mother who has been a constant source of support. She also thanked her husband Somvir, coaches and support staff.
Phogat, who is set to return to India on Saturday, also tried to recollect the anxious night of August 6 and the painful morning of August 7. “There is so much more to say and so much more to tell but words will never be enough and maybe I will speak again when the time feels right. On the night of 6 August and the morning of 7 August, 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 the time was not fair. So was my fate,” she wrote.
