'Haraya gaya hai': Bajrang Punia's bold statement on Vinesh Phogat's Paris Olympic 2024 disqualification
Following her exclusion from the Olympic Games in Paris, Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia declared her retirement from the sport, claiming that Vinesh Phogat was "made to face defeat".
PTC News Desk: Vinesh Phogat, a top wrestler in India, declared her retirement from competition on Thursday. The ruling was made the day after Vinesh's weight was discovered to be 100 grams over the 50 kg threshold, disqualifying her from her gold medal match at the Olympic Games in Paris. While a distraught Vinesh made her decision to retire from wrestling public, rival wrestler Bajrang Punia resorted to social media to claim that she was forced to accept loss rather than be defeated. A significant issue surrounding Vinesh's abnormal weight increase during the post-bouts weigh-in on Tuesday surrounded Bajrang's remarks.
"Vinesh aap haari nahi, haraya gaya hai (you were not beaten but made to face defeat), for us you will always be a winner, you are not only the daughter of India but also the pride of India," Bajrang posted on X.
Following Vinesh's social media post that read, "Mother wrestling won against me, I lost," Bajrang posted something. Please pardon me; your dream has broken all of my courage, and I am at my weakest. Wrestling: Farewell, 2001–2024. I shall always be grateful to all of you for your pardon."
Her unexpected choice was made just one day after Vinesh filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on Wednesday, challenging her disqualification from the Olympic finals and requesting that she be given a shared silver medal.
United World Wrestling (UWW), the worldwide governing body of the sport, has said unequivocally that it will not be changing the present weigh-in rule at this time.
"The UWW President expressed sympathy for IOA's proposal that a wrestler's results from the day they fulfilled the weigh-in conditions should not be nullified.
Following its President Nenad Lalovic's meeting with IOA Chief P T Usha, the international body released a statement late on Wednesday saying, "UWW will also discuss the suggestion at an appropriate platform but it could not be done retrospectively."
By being the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for the gold medal match in her division on Tuesday night, Vinesh had written history.
Prior to her disqualification, she was guaranteed a silver medal at the very least. Vinesh is a three-time Olympian who has taken home gold in the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
She has also been the target of intense demonstrations over the past year against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former President of the Wrestling Federation of India, who grapplers claim has harassed them sexually.
Just months before the Games, Vinesh, who had traditionally participated in the 53kg division, was forced to drop to the 50kg division after Antim Panghal sealed up the Paris quota spot in that event.