How fighting the battle of her life fuelled Vinesh Phogat to banish Olympic demons

New Delhi: Indian woman wrestler Vinesh Phogat lived up to the expectations of the whole nation as she successfully sealed a final spot for herself in the women’s freestyle 50kg event at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Tuesday. This was her third win on the bounce as she started her campaign on Tuesday itself and went on to register wins in the pre-quarterfinal and the quarterfinal of the event, with a semifinal victory as the cherry on top.

She has become the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for an Olympic final and will be vying for a gold medal on Wednesday. Regardless of what the result would be, tracing her journey back to India would bring forth a lot of unwanted instances that a grappler surely won’t fancy in his/her career. Having endured flop shows in her previous two Olympic campaigns, she arrived in Paris with a barrage of hopes on her shoulders and some personal desires as well after battling it out both on and off the mat in the last couple of years.

It is understood that an Olympic gold will etch her name in the history books as she is just one step away from becoming India’s first female gold medallist. But the road to glory wasn’t a cakewalk for her, not just in her sporting world but also off the mat as well. Hailing from the Balali village of Haryana and coming from a family full of wrestlers, anger surely won’t be anything new in her veins.

True Emotions! 🙌

Vinesh Phogat reaches the women’s 50kg freestyle final, becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to achieve this feat. Her coach was absolutely elated, and it’s nothing but wholesome. 🥹🤼‍♀️#MoreThanSport | #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/03p2Q4ZtpX

— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) August 6, 2024

Vinesh and her hurdles

It is noteworthy that she was one of the leading protesters who demanded the ouster of former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual misconduct against female wrestlers. She was furious as no one could intimidate her and battled the police detention and backlash she received for spearheading the protest, which indeed brought her in some negative light.

Vinesh had that one thing in her that people usually lack – faith in themselves. She was riding high on the notion that what she has been up to is absolutely correct and that she won’t be influenced or hampered by anyone during the protest where she fought for the daughters of the nation. She was convinced that her fight was just and she finally prevailed as well.

Not much time later, she set her eyes on the Paris Olympics for which she started the training and faced a new set of challenges. She used to compete in the 53kg category and after doing it for more than five years, she trimmed to 50kg in hopes of coming out better. She faced multiple issues in her trial bouts ahead of the Olympic qualifiers and also went through knee surgery after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) at the 2016 Rio Olympics which threatened to end her career.

#Paris2024 WW 50kg gold medal set

Vinesh PHOGAT 🇮🇳 vs Sarah HILDEBRANDT 🇺🇸

Phogat defeated Yusneylis GUZMAN 🇨🇺 5-0 and Hildebrandt took out Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV 🇲🇳 5-0#WrestleParis #Wrestling #india pic.twitter.com/acsH5906Ms

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) August 6, 2024

Resilience

A lot was at stake for the feisty wrestler from Haryana who was facing challenges with her chin up as she switched to top gear which was a reflection of the things that went into her making.

She has currently guaranteed herself a silver as the colour of her historic medal is yet to be adjudged. Coming from the streets of Delhi where she held protests to the podium in Paris, this has been some journey for the 29-year-old wrestler. Her triumph is a perfect slap to those in the national federation who criticised her for her leading role in the prolonged protest against Brij Bhushan.

The Delhi police, the courts, and even the government stepped in to remove the agitation caused by her on the roads as residents of the national capital got impatient while regularly getting stuck in jams. At this point, her critics were convinced that she had been forming twisted ideas, but Vinesh grew all the more determined and confident to carry on her fight – a great example of confidence in oneself.

What a performance!
Congratulations @Phogat_Vinesh on your stupendous performance at #Paris2024
This win in the Women’s Freestyle 50kg Semis has assured you a place on the podium,marking a 1️⃣st for any female wrestler from India
All the best for the final match!#Cheer4Bharat pic.twitter.com/qh4d8NdcFG

— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) August 6, 2024

As mentioned earlier, regardless of the result of her final bout, she has already completed her decorated career as she will sign off from Paris with a medal in the world’s biggest sporting spectacle.

Her journey started with the trials where she forced the officials to let her compete in two weight categories and ultimately sealed a selection in the 50kg category. A few weeks later, she secured Olympic qualification in the new division and also tackled the spread of misinformation claiming that she had tried to evade a dope test amidst the protest drama.

The journey that he undertook in the recent past to be at what she has just achieved is truly remarkable and it would be a shame to call it just a journey of courage and determination. She deserves a lot more than what she will be given if she clinches a historic gold. It can be said that her off-the-mat battles were more challenging than the ones she featured in on Tuesday.

Paris success

In what turned out as gloomy news, Vinesh was to play Japanese wrestler Yui Susaki who had never lost a bout in her international career and is a reigning Olympic and four-time world champion. Her Paris opening bout clearly displayed her willingness to do the extraordinary as she defeated her rival 3-2, notably in the final five seconds by taking three points and bagging a last-gasp win to shock the wrestling world.

She went on to beat eighth seed Oksana Livach of Ukraine to secure a berth in the semi-finals of the women’s 50kg freestyle event. The victory was so special that she lay on the mat with tears of joy rolling down her face, maybe remembering all the atrocities she faced. The job wasn’t yet complete as she took on Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez and beat her 5-0 to secure a medal and become the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final at the Olympics.

Coming from an Indian village, where the residents considered wrestling to be a man’s sport and to losing her father at the tender age of nine and also taking on the officials of the federation, Vinesh Phogat is a once-in-a-generation talent and is well on her way to fulfill her dreams.

Believe and you can fly 🙌@Phogat_Vinesh

📸: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan#Paris2024 #Wrestling #WrestleParis pic.twitter.com/IsiyMS8s0x

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) August 6, 2024

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 Vinesh Phogat’s journey to Paris Olympics 2024 is nothing short of extraordinary. Regardless of what the result would be in the final, the Haryanvi girl has endured a great deal of suffering in paving her way to the French capital.  Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today