Entering the Delhi airport, Vinesh Phogat is escorted out by hundreds of fans and security personnel. When she sees her mother waiting, along with wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, and other family members, she breaks down.
The Indian wrestler entered the nation on Saturday after being forced to remain in Paris while her appeal for a joint silver medal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport was ongoing. On Wednesday, however, the plea was rejected.
She embraces her family at the airport as media people encircle her and supporters greet her with a marigold garland.
Then from the airport, Vinesh Phogat launches a road show with Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia.
When she arrives in the villages of Haryana, people greet her with garlands and flowers, and the crowd yells, “Sherni hai Vinesh.” Back home in Balali, Haryana, the villagers celebrate with a large poster of Vinesh that reads, “World Champion, inspiration for so many Indians, we are proud of you.” The village temple is decorated with lights and flowers, and the villagers eat in a bhandara while they wait for Vinesh to arrive.
“I have prepared all her favorite food — malai ka halwa, churma, lassi, dahi— she loves desi food,” says Premlata Phogat, who travels with Phogat to all the villages.
The Indian Express claims that the hamlet banded together to crowdfund Vinesh’s reward money. The village watchman contributed ₹100, while members of the Fauji Bhaichara group contributed ₹21,000, demonstrating the wide range of financial contributions. It was said that the donations arrived late at night. Reetika Sangwan, the village sarpanch, invited her husband to attend Vinesh’s celebration on her behalf because she was unable to go. One of his tasks was to deliver a cloth touched by the three-time Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games gold medallist, along with Vinesh’s blessings, to households. She has instructed me to bring a fabric that she has touched and Vinesh’s blessings. In order to give my newborn son the same bravery as her, I would force him to wear it,” he said.
“More than a thousand gold medals”
When Vinesh arrived home in New Delhi on Saturday morning, she was greeted with warmth. A crowd of thousands gathered outside the IGI Airport to welcome her, and among them were panchayat leaders and fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik.
As supporters sang Vinesh’s name as she was garlanded at the airport, she broke down in tears. Then, in her hometown, she stood in an open Jeep that made its way through the nation’s capital through heavy security. Fifty fans trailed behind her jeep. They stopped at a temple in Dwarka, Delhi, to give prayers, and then they moved on to Balali.
When Vinesh arrived in her hometown, she was overcome with gratitude and thanked everyone. “People here have given me that, even though they didn’t give me the gold medal,” she remarked. More than a thousand gold medals have been awarded to me in terms of love and respect.
Vinesh became the first female wrestler from India to qualify for the Olympic final on August 6. But the next day, before the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling final, Vinesh was disqualified at the morning weigh-in because she weighed 100 grams too much, therefore she was not awarded a medal. The devastated 29-year-old declared her retirement, but he later attempted to overturn the ruling by appealing for a shared silver medal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and United World Wrestling (UWW). In a ruling on Wednesday, the court’s Sole Arbitrator rejected the application.
