.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
Imagine being Vinesh Phogat. After years of toil, tribulation, tears and heartbreak, an Olympic medal had been won.
As if it's a nightmare, you wake up the next morning, only to realise that it has been snatched away from you.
Imagine what she's been through, not only over the last couple of years, but over her entire wrestling career. One heartbreak after another, one misfortune after another. It's like destiny is playing a wicked game. Denying you what you know you deserve.
And at last, when you think you've laid your hands on the ultimate prize, that it was perhaps worth it after all, that the pot of gold does exist at the end of the rainbow for you, destiny plays a cruel prank.
The Early Years
It all started on 25 August 1994 when Vinesh was born in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana. Born to Rajpal Phogat in a family of wrestlers, all she saw from childhood was an environment of wrestling. Her sister Priyanka Phogat and cousins Geeta Phogat, Ritu Phogat and Babita Kumari are all renowned wrestlers.
Breaking cultural barriers and following the lead of her sisters, she trained under her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat. From a very young age, Vinesh was earmarked for greatness. With a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Vinesh burst into the public consciousness, or into that of the wrestling fraternity at the very least.
Heartbreak in Rio
Having won an Asian championship silver medal in 2015, Vinesh was among the medal hopefuls for India when she stepped onto the mat at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Just 21 at the time, Phogat got her Olympic career off to a sensational start with a one-sided 11-0 win by technical superiority over Romania’s Emilia Alina Vuc.
In her quarter-final bout against People's Republic of China’s Sun Yanan, the ACL shredded in her left knee as a sobbing and helpless Vinesh had to be stretched off the mat.
She later said:
I still don’t know what happened. I just wanted to shake it off, get up and continue. But my legs just didn’t move. I was like just give me a few painkillers. I want to go in there again. I just didn’t want to give up. That’s not me. But that didn’t happen. I could see everything slip off my hand and I was there, lying helpless.Vinesh Phogat
Ever since Vinesh Phogat recovered from that injury and returned at the 2017 Asian Wrestling Championships to win a silver, she was a picture of concentration and determination. The Haryana-born hit a purple patch for a couple of years and bagged several medals, including the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold.
Shortly after that, Vinesh became the first Indian woman to win a wrestling gold medal at the Asiad at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. Between the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, the Indian wrestler competed in 17 championships, and returned with 16 medals - nine golds, six silvers and a bronze medal.
Trauma in Tokyo
Although a bout of COVID-19 threatened to derail her preparations, she looked in great shape ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Phogat entered the 2020 Games as the reigning world No. 1 and the top seed in her weight class of 53kg.
She started her campaign with a bang, brushing aside Rio 2016 bronze medallist Sweden’s Sofia Mattsson 7-1. Unfortunately, she lost 9-2 in her quarter-final bout against Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya.
If that wasn't enough, the grappler was suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India on grounds of indiscipline. It took a massive toll on Vinesh mentally and she took a break away from the sport, contemplating retirement altogether.
“My body is not broken, but I truly am,” Vinesh Phogat said while reflecting on that phase of life. “As an athlete, the mental pressure is so much that we’re always on a thin line. When it crosses, we are done.”
Things took a turn for the better as she won a gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and decided to have another shot at the elusive Olympic medal in 2024.
Life Is Not Just About Winning Medals
A major point in the life of the Indian wrestler arrived when she decided to stage protests against the then WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh alongside fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, accusing him of sexual harassment and intimidation.
After a long and arduous fight against the establishment, during which she was unfairly targeted, dragged through the streets and made the subject of a smear campaign, the inspiringly stubborn wrestler emerged victorious.
Despite all the efforts of the political strongman, a Delhi court framed charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the modesty of women against the former WFI president Brij Bhushan, noting that he had misused his position to exert control over the victims.
Stunning Start in Paris
Having missed the Asian Games and the Budapest Ranking Series due to injury and illness, Vinesh flew to Paris with a bigger goal.
A determined Vinesh had said:
The only thing I have told Bajrang and Sakshi [both Olympic medalists] is that I will still fight. I will look him [Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh] in the eye and medal leke aaungi main, tu dekh [bring back a medal and show it to him].Vinesh Phogat
As if destiny was hellbent on denying Vinesh an Olympic medal, the 29-year-old was handed a terrible draw - pitted against the world-beating wrestler Yui Sasaki. The Japanese held a spotless 82-0 record, having never lost an international match. Forget about losing a match, she had not dropped a single point en route to her gold medal win at Tokyo.
Vinesh put on a tactical masterclass against the Japanese. Contrary to her natural aggressive style, she defended for 5 minutes and 45 seconds, not allowing even the two passivity points to affect her, and then pounced in the last 25 seconds to stun the Japanese.
Not just in India, Vinesh made headlines around the world for beating the reigning Olympic and World champion Sasaki who hitherto was considered unbeatable. Vinesh's reaction after the match said a thing or two about what an Olympic medal meant to her.
Vinesh went on to get the better of former Olympic bronze medallist Oksana Livach and then Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman to secure a medal.
Her smile in the dying seconds of her semi-final match was among the most beautiful moments ever recorded in Indian sporting history. Against all odds, she had finally made history.
Soon, though, her world was about to turn upside down.
Destiny Had the Last Laugh
Vinesh was mindful of making her weight even through the high of making the final. She did not stop for an interaction with the press after her semi-final win and headed straight to training. Having met the 50-kg mark comfortably on the morning of her first bout, Vinesh had gained around 2kg through the day as she replenished herself after three back-to-back draining bouts.
As the clock ticked, Vinesh's desperation grew. Through the night, she did all she could to make weight – skipping with a sweat suit on, sauna and sparring with a fellow wrestler.
In moments of anguish right before the official weigh-in, Vinesh cut her hair and even considered drawing blood from her body to lose the few grams required.
Alas! It was not to be as she came up 50.1 kg in the official weigh in, and like a sharp knife cuts through flesh, a DQ was etched next to her name in the official paperwork.
Disqualified, defeated and crestfallen, Vinesh announced her retirement from wrestling. She tweeted:
Ma, wrestling has won, I have lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my courage, everything is broken. I don't have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I shall be indebted to you all. Forgive (me).Vinesh Phogat
In a time of grief, a lot can be said to paint a rosy picture - Vinesh is a champion, she is an inspiration for the nation, she has a heart of gold, and she has won the bout of life - and while all that is true, somehow, at this moment, everything rings hollow.
One can not even imagine the physical, mental and emotional trauma that the Indian wrestler must be going through at the moment. The biggest consolation which can perhaps soothe the indomitable spirit of Vinesh Phogat right now is that this too shall pass.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)