Don’t know what future holds for me: Vinesh Phogat
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 16
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat 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 the same again”.
Vinesh had announced her retirement from the sport after her disqualification from the women’s 50kg final for being overweight by 100gm. 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, the 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.
“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.
Referring to a tough childhood, when she lost her father while her mother battled cancer, Vinesh said the fight for survival taught her a lot.
“....survival taught me a lot. Seeing my mother’s hardships, never-give-up attitude and fighting spirit is what makes me the way I am. She taught me to fight for what is rightfully mine. When I think about courage I think about her and it is this courage that helps me fight every fight without thinking about the outcome,” she said. — PTI
