'I got a call saying…': Vinesh Phogat on lack of support after Olympics tragedy

Ex-Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat recently came out openly and slammed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and its president, PT Usha, for not coming to her support during her tough phase at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Phogat, who was expected to be the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic gold, was disqualified on the grounds of being 100 grams over the weight limit before the final bout. This disqualification put paid to her chances of winning a medal, and she had to return from the Games without a medal.

During an interview, Vinesh complained that the IOA failed to support her and accused several athletes of using a hospital visit for photo-ops. She said, “You are lying on a hospital bed… and without even telling you to your face, a picture is taken and uploaded online to claim I was fine when, in reality, nothing was fine.”

She added, “When you win a medal, everyone takes pictures with you and congratulates you. But before I reached the finals, I hadn’t received any calls. Afterward, I got a call saying they would support me, but I didn’t want to be turned into a public spectacle. If they genuinely cared, they could have quietly called me and said, ‘We are with you.'  That would have meant much more to me.”

Vinesh also revealed that she had to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) alone when disqualified and blamed the government for not supporting her during this time. She said that it was private sponsors who offered such crucial things as a coach and physiotherapist.

The ordeal she endured at the Olympics has forced Vinesh to quit wrestling and embrace politics, where she is a member of the Indian National Congress. She has family problems because of political differences, even with her relative, like Babita Phogat, who supports the BJP.