Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was given a grand welcome from the villagers in Balali at Charkhi Dadri district of Haryana on Saturday night, August 17.
Phogat returned to India just a day after the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) dismissed her petition for a joint silver medal following her disqualification from the gold medal match due to overweight issues at Paris Olympics 2024.
Despite the heartbreaking end to her Paris Olympics' campaign, emotional Vinesh Phogat received a rousing reception upon her arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. She was grandly welcomed by the crowd and her fellow wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, who were waiting outside the airport to welcome her.
After arriving in Delhi, Phogat headed straight to her village in Charkhi Dadri district, where she received a grand welcome by a large gathering of villagers. In a video that went viral on social media, the villagers can be gathering around the car where she was sitting atop of it.
In another video, Vinesh Phogat's uncle and former national wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat was seen hugging and blessing her niece as she returned to her village with a grand welcome despite not winning her maiden Olympic medal due to disqualification from the gold medal bout at the Paris Olympics 2024. Mahavir kept his words that Vinesh would be welcomed as a gold medalist.
Vinesh Phogat's dreams of returning home with her maiden Olympic medal were shattered after she was disqualified from the gold medal bout due to weight of 100 grams more than the permissible limit of 50 kg, her category in women's wrestling at the Paris Olympics.
Phogat appealed for the joint silver medal from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and the tribunal body for sports accepted her petition for hearing. After delaying the judgement three times, the CAS dismissed Phogat's appeal, upholding International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling rules on weight in wrestling.
Vinesh Phogat was one of the medal hopefuls for India at the Paris Olympics, but the assured a silver medal after defeating Yusneylys Guzman of Cuba in semifinal, slipped from the grasp due to her disqualification.
