Vinesh Phogat on Olympic heartbreak: ‘I wasn’t even fully conscious during P T Usha photo-op… taken just to tell media I was okay’

Right in the middle of an intense election campaign, a month after her heart-breaking Paris Olympics medal miss, the nation’s top wrestler and now Congress candidate from Julana assembly constituency in Haryana, Vinesh Phogat, says she is merely following her destiny.

“Politics was a big decision. This is God’s will… I am following my destiny,” she tells The Indian Express, taking a break during her busy village-hopping schedule.

Phogat concedes that the love showered on her at the crowded rallies overwhelms her but says she can’t forget the days following her disqualification from the 50-kg final for being 100 grams overweight, when everyone from politicians, federation officials and even some fellow sportspersons didn’t stand by her.

She calls Indian Olympics Association chief P T Usha’s visit to the Games Village hospital in Paris, where she was recovering after her extreme weight cut, a “photo opportunity”.

“I was told that PT Usha was coming … I wasn’t even fully conscious. I was dizzy after becoming unconscious. I was made to sit up. It was to post a photo and then tell the media that Vinesh is ‘okay’. In reality, I was not. All this was done to show the media and escape responsibility. All that she told me was ‘Hum tumhare saath mein hai. Theek hai?’ (We are with you, ok),” she says.

The IOA chief’s visit came about after Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Parliament that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked Usha to be with Vinesh, who had approached the Court of Arbitration for Sport with a plea for a silver medal.

Vinesh Phogat after winning her Women’s Freestyle 50kg Round of 16 wrestling match against Japan’s Yui Susaki at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France. (PTI Photo)

Vinesh also expressed disappointment over the Prime Minister’s “silence” when she, along with Olympic medallist wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, made allegations of sexual harassment of women wrestlers by then BJP MP and federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
“If he feels genuinely about sports and has genuine love for sports people, I don’t think he could have stopped himself from reaching out after such a major thing happened (protests)… To say nothing even when he knows everything … that is not genuine love for sportspersons,” she says.

What about the PM’s ‘you are a champion among champions’ tweet after she had been ruled out for the final? “When did he tweet? A whole day after I reached the final. He calls all the athletes immediately. The weigh-in issue happened the next day. Why didn’t I get a call from the PM once I reached the final?” she asks.

The wrestler-turned-politician also said that there was no follow-up of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini’s announcement of extending to her all the perks and rewards that an Olympic silver medallist gets.

“The whole country was hoping that I would win gold. If the government had said we will give as much money as we give to a gold medallist, it would have felt like it came from the heart,” she said. “First, I heard there would be a programme. I would have returned the cheque. Then they said it would come in the account. I keep checking my account, nothing has come. This was just talk because of elections … All I have got is Rs 15 lakh that all participants get.”

Vinesh says that things would have been different if sportspersons were united and supported each other. “To be so greedy or to be scared… It is not good to be selfish. How will people appreciate you after your days as an active athlete are over? Your whole life you can’t say I have won a medal, so respect me. You have to give back to the people or do something for others.”

The 29-year-old says that the decision to join politics was tough but that was her option. “You have to enter the system. Brij Bhushan is surviving because he is powerful politically. So we have to be powerful also. If we don’t have power, two years of struggle will go down the drain).” Vinesh also explained the choice to join Congress. “If you are getting into the messy world of politics, you should go with those who have supported you. When we were on dharna, there was a lot of respect from the Congress,” she said.

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