Vinesh Phogat returned to Balali, her native village, amidst much fanfare late on Saturday night after arriving at New Delhi’s IGI airport in the morning, marking her return to India after a heartbreaking Paris 2024 Olympics.
The grappler was disqualified from the Games on the morning of her 50 kg gold medal match after she missed weight by around 100 grams during the weigh-in. Vinesh went on to announce her retirement from the sport shortly after.
After being on the road for most part of the day, Vinesh, Bajrang Punia and others reached her native village of Balali in Haryana.
A massive crowd, which included over 60 women, welcomed her. Over five turbans, garlands of notes and other paraphernalia were used to honour her. She was also seen regularly being gifted glasses of milk along her convoy route.
A visibly grateful and emotional Vinesh addressed the media and the people of her village.
“I don’t know if I am even worthy of such love and respect. I am blessed to be born in a place like this,” she said, after the villagers presented her with a gold medal during the felicitation ceremony.
“I want to teach the sisters of my village whatever little I know in wrestling so they can step up and take my place and do the country proud. I hope you will all support my sisters and give them your blessings,” Vinesh went on. “I am indebted to you all for turning up for me. My heartfelt gratitude.”
“Not getting the Olympic medal is a deep wound, it’ll take time to heal. But the love I have seen from my country and the people of my village, it will give me strength,” she told reporters.
“The love people have given me is more than 1,000 Gold medals,” she said earlier in the day in Haryana’s Badli, one of her stops enroute to Balali.
While Vinesh admits she’s unsure whether she will continue with wrestling, despite her retirement announcement, the three-time Olympian will use the love and strength from this welcome back to the country to fight in life.
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