Feisty wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Saturday said that under “different circumstances” she could see herself competing till 2032 because she still has a lot of wrestling left in her but is now unsure about her future as things “might never be same again”.
Vinesh had announced her retirement from the sport after her disqualification from the women’s 50kg final for being overweight by 100 grammes.
She had challenged the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but her appeal was dismissed.
In an emotional post on social media, Vinesh shared her childhood dream and, hardships she faced after losing her father and also put on record the contribution made by people in her extraordinary journey that ended in heartbreak in Paris.
“....all I want to say is that we did not give up, our efforts did not stop, and we did not surrender but the clock stopped and the time was not fair. So was my fate,” she wrote, referring to the work she did with her team before the second-day weigh-in.
“To my team, my fellow Indians and my family, it feels like: the goal that we were working towards and what we had planned to achieve is unfinished, that something might always remain missing, and that things might never be the same again.
“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.
Heartbroken after her disqualification, Vinesh paid a glowing tribute to all the people who were part of her extraordinary journey, saying her unmatched fighting spirit had a lot to do with her mother.
She said her coach Woller Akos does not believe in the word ‘impossible’, and Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala was an angel.
Dr Pardiwala, who headed the 13-member medical staff that IOA had arranged to help the Indian contingent in Paris, was recently subjected to unfair criticism for Vinesh ending up 100 grammes more than the 50kg limit.
