In her first response after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed the appeal for a joint silver medal following her disqualification from the finals of the Paris Olympics, Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat said that she would have continued her wrestling journey if the fate was different.
In an emotional post shared on X on Friday, Phogat said she will continue to fight for what is right.
"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," Phogat wrote.
Phogat had announced her retirement from wrestling immediately after she was disqualified from the 50kg women’s freestyle wrestling finals of the Paris Olympics after weighing around 100g more than the required weight.
In the three-page long post, Phogat reflected on her long journey from a small village to the Olympics finals. She expressed gratitude to her parents who stood with her through numerous setbacks and also her support staff including Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, Dr. Wayne Patrick, Wolker Akos and Aswini Jeevan Patil.
Phogat also recounted taking part in protests demanding the arrest of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and pointed out why this Olympics was important 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," she said.