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A country’s success at the Olympics is always measured in medals. India have six so far, not exactly the best effort from a contingent that had been expected to break into double figures for the first time. Only one of them is a silver—Neeraj Chopra won that in the men’s Javelin throw event as a follow-up to his gold in Tokyo. That achievement, which came almost a week after the shooters had ended up with three bronze medals, put Neeraj where no other Indian had gone before.
India’s love affair with hockey continued at the Yves de Manoir stadium, an iconic venue that had staged Olympic events a century ago in 1924. The team’s passion was on display when they beat Spain to win the bronze. India’s custodian PR Sreejesh, arguably the best goalkeeper of his generation, ended his career with that feat and walked into the annals of history.
One more medal was added when Aman Sehrawat, a Chhatrasal prodigy won a bronze in wrestling. That was India’s sixth medal. Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale’s three shooting medals seemed like they had come a long time ago.
Yet all the talk was about the medal that never came. Being overweight is arguably a common topic of discussion in most Indian households. But here the margin was a mere 100gm, as much as a medium-sized apple, a cup of peanuts or a piece of butter. That was what stood between Vinesh Phogat and making weight for the final of the women’s 50kg wrestling event. It was less than a third of the 529gm that the gold she stood to win weighed.
The misfortune that befell Vinesh, and by extension the entire country, became the central narrative of India’s Games. The matter has now landed in front of the Court of Arbitration of Sports.
Vinesh is an icon, both on and off the mat. Her victories over the years had made her a household name, but she seared herself into the national psyche after being dragged off the roads of Delhi, when protesting against one of the most powerful administrators in Indian sports — the former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. She was standing up for her fellow female wrestlers, who had levelled charges of sexual harassment against him.
Vinesh is an interesting person with her own set of idiosyncrasies. She comes across as a person who would say things right to someone’s face. She doesn’t take anything lying low. Even wrestling officials are scared of her lest she castigates them. She is every bit the tiger off the mat, as she is on it.
This Olympics was quite the roller-coaster ride for her, albeit a tragically anti-climactic one. The tough draw that she was handed prompted groans of despair from all quarters. When she found herself up against Japan’s Yui Susaki, the wrestler who had not lost a bout in her professional career, no one gave her a chance. Like the most popular rendition of an opera, she emerged from that battle victorious, turning all those groans into cries of delight. Hope for a gold—an Indian woman is yet to win one at the Olympics—soared when she won two more bouts and entered the final, looking unstoppable. Yet, where her fellow wrestlers had failed, fate succeeded.
Vinesh is no longer that old Vinesh. Months of struggle on the streets of Delhi, through the cold and the heat, sleeping on the pavements before transitioning to a brutal training regimen to make it in time for the Olympics, have all taken a heavy toll on her. Through the sleepless nights, and the pain, both physical and mental, she has matured. At 29, she comes across as a lot older, a lot wiser and a lot more worn down. She has been through a lot more than most people will face in their entire life. So when she announced her decision to quit the sport after her Tokyo heartbreak, that came across as unfair. She should have been standing here, basked in the adulation of a grateful nation, not cloaked in despair and throwing in the towel.
But even in her moment of tragedy, she has stirred up a debate that has transcended borders. A good part of the wrestling fraternity is firmly in Vinesh’s corner with many opining that the second day weigh-in should have weight concessions.
That is what Vinesh is capable of— stirring up emotions and ushering in change. They may be able to deny her a medal. But they cannot change who she is.