Heroic achievements and heartbreaks are the very essence of sports. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, 29, now exemplifies this like few before her have done. In the space of a single night, Phogat went from a possible gold on the 50-kg Olympic podium – which would have been India’s feat too – to being disqualified. She returns from Paris without a medal despite having beaten the world number one, the unbeaten Yui Susaki, and being assured of an Olympic silver. Despite extreme measures such as cutting hair, sniping jersey, cycling for hours, sauna time, and willing to draw blood to reduce weight to below, she left the weigh-in spot with tears of devastation for the extra 100 grams she had. It was, for her and for India, the death of a dream, too heavy a heartbreak. The Indian contingent filed an appeal against the disqualification.
Whichever the story turns from here, Phogat is a winner on and off the wrestling mat even if she is not the gold medallist she could have been. Not all victories are medals and trophies; a few like Phogat’s are to be cherished for the significance they bring into public life. Phogat, the lesser of the cousins of the illustrious wrestler family in Haryana, saw her father being shot dead outside her home when still a child. Her resilience, grit and fierce sense of purpose brought her to where she won laurels for India in Asian Games and World Championships. Phogat carried the fire in her belly to the streets in New Delhi last year when she, along with her colleagues, took on the then chief of the Wrestling Federation of India and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan for sexual harassment. The visual of her pinned down by Delhi cops was a turning moment. Despite his threats, she almost made it to the Olympic podium — the significance of this must never be lost. Phogat has shown us all how to fight — win or lose.
There are, indeed, questions of accountability in all that transpired in the Paris Olympics leading to her gut-wrenching disqualification. Why, for instance, was she not allowed to compete in her chosen category of 53 kgs during the trials? What did the monitoring team do that allowed her weight to rise after the semi-final? Who could have, should have, been more careful at every step of the way? The answers are unlikely to change the story for Phogat but they are important. Phogat is a winner, India’s hero, on and off the mat.
