Abhinav Bindra’s message to Vinesh Phogat: ‘Every child will grow up wanting to face life with the resilience you have displayed’

Vinesh Phogat was one win away from becoming the first female athlete joining an exclusive club of Indian athletes which is currently inhabited by just Abhinav Bindra and Neeraj Chopra. Vinesh Phogat was one win away from the Olympic gold medal. But on Wednesday, Vinesh Phogat found out that she was disqualified from the women’s 50kg wrestling event. For being 100 grams over the limit.

On Thursday, posting a couple of photos with her, Abhinav Bindra posted a poignant message on his X account, thanking Vinesh Phogat for the resilience she has shown through her career.

“It is said that sport is a celebration of human will. I have known that to be true many times in my career but never has it resonated more than today. As I look around me, I see a nation and its people celebrate your unyielding resolve,” Vinesh Phogat’s message read. He ended the message with a sign off line that read “Respect, Abhinav Bindra.”

Dear Vinesh, It is said that sport is a celebration of human will. I have known that to be true many times in my career but never has it resonated more than today. As I look around me, I see a nation… pic.twitter.com/XflL03FJjY

— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 8, 2024

“You are a fighter – on and off the mat. Through you, we are learning what it means to never lose the fight in us, even as a loss weighs heavily. You embody the true spirit of a warrior.”

Vinesh Phogat said on Thursday morning, through a post on X, that she has retired from wrestling. She was set to lock horns with American Sarah Hildebrandt for the gold medal but the 29-year-old fell 100 grams short despite starving herself for a week and spending hours in the sauna to cut down to her competition weight.

“Wrestling won and I lost. My dreams are shattered. I don’t have any more strength,” Vinesh Phogat wrote on X. “Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to you all. I am sorry.”

Vinesh Phogat’s journey to Paris had been one filled with hurdles but with her stunning performances on Tuesday, when she did make the weight cut, proved to be a story for the ages before the overnight heartbreak.

• Paris Olympics: Vinesh Phogat denied on the cusp of ultimate glory, another entry in her diary of heartbreaks
• Vinesh Phogat Disqualified Live Updates, Paris Olympics 2024: First visuals of Vinesh emerge; Cuban wrestler Vinesh defeated to fight for gold
• Vinesh Olympics disqualification: What is weight cutting, and why is it controversial?

“Not all victories look alike. Some end up as a glittering souvenir in a cabinet but the ones that matter more find their way into the stories we tell our children. And every child in this country will know the champion you are. Every child will grow up wanting to face life with the resilience you have displayed. I thank you for that,” Abhinav Bindra wrote.

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