Vinesh Phogat, the star Indian wrestler, received a grand welcome in her Balali village in Haryana's Charki Dadri district. While the wrestler narrowly missed out on a medal in the Paris Olympics 2024 Women's 50 kg frestyle wrestling after being assured of a silver when she reached the final because of being overweight by 100 grams in the morning of the final, the nation has nonethless welcomed her like a champion.
It might have taken more than 12 hours for Vinesh to reach her village from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport but there was an emotional welcome waiting for her there. It didn't matter to them that she had missed out on a medal, they seemed to celebrate her courage and her extraorindary run up to a place in the final.
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There was 750 kgs of desi ghee laddoos in the village temple and a crowdfunded prize money, as mentioned in a report carried by Indian Express. Contributions came in all denominations. The village Chowkidar chipped in Rs 100, members of the Fauji Bhaichara group donated Rs 21,000. The village sarpanch Reetika Sangwan could not make it to the felicitation of the wrestler but her husband was there on her behalf and was even tasked to bring the wrestler's blessings in the form of a cloth that is touched by the Asian Games gold medallist.
"She has told me to bring Vinesh’s blessings as well as a cloth touched by her. I will make my newborn boy wear it so that he gets the same courage as her," he says as quoted in the report.
'Love More Than 1000 Gold Medals'
"Although they didn't give me the Gold medal, people here have given me that. The love and the respect that I have received is more than 1,000 Gold medals," Vinesh said once she reached her hometown, overwhelmed by the support of her fans and well-wishers.
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Post her disqualification from the Paris Olympics Women's 50 kg freestyle wrestling event, Vinesh officially filed an appeal at the Court Of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) demanding that she be given a joint silver medal. However, her plea was dismissed by the ad-hoc court. Although Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Phogat do have an option to appeal against the verdict by the court, there is no update yet as to whether they will take that option.