Phogat sisters focused on Olympic medal
The Phogat sisters Geeta and Babita are determined not to lose their focus in their pursuit of a medal at the next Olympics.
Published: 27th December 2016 07:01 PM | Last Updated: 27th December 2016 07:01 PM | A+A A-
India's Babita Kumari celebrates after winning the gold medal against Canada's Brittanee Laverdure during the women's Freestyle Wrestling 55kg Final match during the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. (File|PTI)
NEW DELHI: The centre of public attention following the release of a movie based on their life, the Phogat sisters Geeta and Babita are determined not to lose their focus in their pursuit of a medal at the next Olympics.
"We have started our preparations. Our aim for the year is to do well in the Asian Championship and the World Championship. In 2018 we have the Asian Games and the CWG but our ultimate goal is to win a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics," Geeta told IANS here on Tuesday.
"I will strive hard for the Olympic medal because that will be the most prized possession of my life."
The life story of Geeta -- the first female wrestler to represent India at the Olympics -- her sister Babita and their father-cum-coach Mahavir Singh Phogat became the centre of public attention following the release of 'Dangal', a movie featuring Bollywood star Aamir Khan.
Following the release of the movie, both sisters -- who are a part of the UP franchise in the upcoming second edition of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) -- have been very busy with movie promotions.
But the Phogat sisters do not let the busy schedule affect their training.
"We cannot hamper our training at all as we are here because of wrestling and without training our performance got affected. Yes it happens we train once rather than twice a day. Today also we attended our training in the morning and came here," Babita, who is part of the UP Dangal team in the PWL-2 with Geeta, Amit Dhankar, Amit Dahiya and Mausam Khatri, said.
The Phogat family are revelling in the success of 'Dangal' and the fame and adulation that comes with it.
"People used to know Geeta and Babita earlier as well but with name and not by face much. But after this movie got released, people recognise us very easily. We also became celebrities. We became very famous instantly," Geeta said.
"The work on the movie started after I won the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold when the movie's director Nitesh Tiwary came to our national camp in Patiala and we had a chat at a nearby coffee shop. It took around six years to make a movie and it was worth it," she added.
Asked whether the movie is based entirely on their life or just a part of it, Babita said, "Whatever has been shown in the movie is 99 per cent truth. Only one per cent is fiction to make it more interesting and to add more masala to it."
