Vinesh Phogat in action at the Paris Olympics 2024.© AFP
For Vinesh Phogat, the last 10 days have been no less than a nightmare. Less than 24 hours after becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to enter final in Olympics, Vinesh was disqualified for being 100 gram overweight that the permissible 50 kg weight limit. The star wrestler and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a shared silver but to no avail.
A day after her disqualification on August 7, Vinesh Phogat wrote on X: "Mom won the wrestling match against me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream, my courage is all broken, I don't have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024". The Olympic heart-break was being seen as the reason behind her sudden retirement.
2001-2024
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 7, 2024
But now, Vinesh has made a comment in a long post that has got everyone's attention. For the first time Vinesh opened up on her heart-break on Friday and mentioned "can't predict what the future holds."
"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 wrote in the post.
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 16, 2024
Amid the criticism of her support staff for failing to cut down her weight for the final match, the 29-year-old detailed their contribution to her life and thanked them for their unwavering support in her journey.
"Woller Akos: Anything I write about him will always be less. In the world of Women's Wrestling, I have found him to be the best coach, best guide and best human being, able to handle any situation with his calmness, patience and confidence. He does not have the word impossible in his dictionary and he is always ready with a plan whenever we face a tough situation on or off the mat," she said.
"There were times when I doubted myself, and was shifting away from my internal focus and he would know exactly what to say and how to bring me back on my path. He was more than a coach, he was my family in wrestling. He was never hungry to take credit for my victory and success, always humble and taking a step back as soon as his work was done on the mat," Vinesh said.
"But I want to give him the recognition he much deserves, whatever I do will never be enough to thank him for his sacrifices, for the time he spent away from his family. I can never repay him for the time lost with his two small boys. I wonder if they know what their father has done for me and if they understand how important his contributions have been. All I can do today is tell the world that if it hadn't been for you I would not have done on the mat what I have done.
"Ashwini Jeevan Patil: The first day we met in 2022, I felt immediately secure by the way she took care of me that day, her confidence was enough to make me feel that she could take care of wrestlers and this difficult game.
"Through the past 2.5 years she went through this journey with me like it was her own, every competition, win and loss, every injury and rehab journey was hers as much as it was mine. This is the first time I met a physiotherapist who has shown this much dedication and reverence towards me and my journey. Only we really know what we went through before every training, after every training session and in the moments in between," she concluded.