New Delhi: Senior Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has encouraged young women wrestlers from her village Balali to reach new heights in the sport and break all the records set by her. On Saturday, Vinesh received a grand welcome from her villagers after a gruelling period at the Paris Olympics.
The supporters of the Haryana-based and khap panchayats from neighbouring village felicitated her despite a medalless campaign. It was a tiresome 135km-journey from Delhi to Balali, which took almost 13 hours on Saturday, as reported by news agency PTI.
While addressing the crowd during the felicitation programme, the two-time World Championship medallist wished to see a wrestler from Balali achieve more than her in the biggest competitions of the sport.
“It would be disappointing if no wrestler emerged from this village. We have paved the way, given hope with our achievements. I request you all to support the women in this village. They need your support, hope and trust if they have to replace us in future,” Vinesh said, as reported by PTI.
“They can achieve a lot. All they need is your support. I will always be indebted to this nation, this village for giving me so much love and respect. I can then say with pride that she is from my village and I have trained her. I want that (my) records are broken by wrestlers from this village. Thank you all for staying up so late in the night for me.”
“Whatever I have learnt in wrestling, I don’t know if that is god-gifted or my hard work but whatever I have I would like to share with my sisters from this village and I wish they achieve greater heights than me,” she added.
Vinesh’s heartbreaking campaign in Paris
Vinesh Phogat’s dream run in Paris Olympics came to a shattering end. She reached the final of 50kg women’s freestyle event with three straight defeats. On the day of her gold medal bout against America’s Sarah Hildebrandt, Vinesh was disqualified after being found overweight from the permissible 50kg. Reports suggested that she lost the chance to compete after increase of 100-150 grams weight.
Vinesh appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to be eligible for a silver medal but it was rejected later. The United World Wrestling (UWW) rules indicated that if a wrestler is found to be overweight then they will be dropped to the last position in that particular competition and won’t be eligible for a podium finish.
Senior Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has encouraged young women wrestlers from her village Balali to reach new heights in the sport and break all the records set by her. On Saturday, Vinesh received a grand welcome from her villagers after a gruelling period at the Paris Olympics. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
