Balali (Haryana): Following her heartwarming welcome, Vinesh Phogat on Saturday asserted that her fight against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) would continue, hoping that "truth will prevail."
Vinesh received an overwhelming reception after she arrived at the New Delhi International Airport on Saturday morning after her medal-less campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024. Vinesh alongside her fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik were the primary faces of the wrestler's protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment of female grapplers.
The 29-year-old was felicitated by her supporters and 'khap' panchayats in several villages, on her way to Balali. She reached her native village in Balali around midnight as it took her almost 13 hours to cover a mere distance of 135 km.
माँ कुश्ती मेरे से जीत गई मैं हार गई माफ़ करना आपका सपना मेरी हिम्मत सब टूट चुके इससे ज़्यादा ताक़त नहीं रही अब।
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 7, 2024
अलविदा कुश्ती 2001-2024 🙏
आप सबकी हमेशा ऋणी रहूँगी माफी 🙏🙏
Following her arrival at home, the exhausted Indian wrestler addressed the gathering, saying, "Our fight has not ended and the fight will continue and I pray to god that the truth will prevail."
Vinesh also 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 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. But I feel extremely lucky to be born in this village. I would always fight for the honour of the women and this village," she added.
The two-time Commonwealth Games champion also noted that she wants to carry forward her legacy and see breaking records, emphasizing that it would be very disappointing for her if no wrestler emerged from her native village. She also asked the villagers to support women in whatever they want to pursue to replace themselves in the future.
"It would be disappointing if no wrestler emerged from this village. We have paved the way with your achievements. I request you all to support the women in this village, they need support if they have to replace us. They can achieve a lot. All they need is your support. I will always be indebted to this nation, this village. Whatever I have learnt, I will share with my sisters from this village and I wish someone from this village breaks my record," quipped grappler.
Meanwhile, the grappler, who was competing in her third Olympics, from Haryana was found 100 grams overweight on the morning of the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling gold medal bout at Paris Olympics 2024 and was disqualified for participating in the final. Following this incident, she announced her retirement from the sport on August 8 but also appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a joint silver medal which was eventually dismissed by the ad-hoc division on August 14.
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