'Time was not fair': Vinesh Phogat finally breaks her silence after Olympics disqualification

The star wrestler had made history by becoming the first Indian woman to enter a wrestling event final at the Olympics and was deemed to at least bag the silver medal even if she lost in the final.

However, fate had otherwise and on the morning of her event on August 7, Vinesh was found to be 100 grams overweight and hence was disqualified.

She and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) approached the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a joint silver medal but the appeal was dismissed.

After a long period of silence, Vinesh has finally opened up on why the Paris Olympics was a huge occasion for her.   

"During the wrestlers protest I was fighting hard to protect the sanctity of women in India, the sanctity and values of our lndian flag. But when one looks at the pictures of me with the Indian flag from 28th May 2023, it haunts me. It was my wish to have the Indian flag fly high this Olympics, to have a picture of the Indian flag with me that truly represents it's value and restores it's sanctity.

I felt that by doing this it will correctly reprimand what the flag went through and what wrestling went through. l really was hoping to show that to my fellow lndians," Vinesh wrote in a long post.

"There is so much more to say and so much more to tell but words will never be enough and maybe I will speak again when the time feels right. On the night of 6th August and the morning of 7th August, 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," she wrote.

Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling following this event stating that she did not have the strength anymore.