‘Vinesh, you have not lost…’: Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia react to wrestler’s retirement

New Delhi: Olympic bronze medalist wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia expressed their sadness over Vinesh Phogat’s retirement following her heartbreaking disqualification from the Paris games.

The 29-year-old Vinesh was disqualified for being 100 grams overweight before her 50kg category gold medal bout on Wednesday.

Reacting to Vinesh’s retirement, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia posted on X: “Vinesh, aap haari nahi, haaraaya gaya hai (Vinesh, you haven’t lost, you have been made to lose).”

“Hamaare liye sadaiv aap vijeta hi rahegi, aap Bharat ki beti ke saath-saath Bharat ka abhimaan bhi ho (For us, you will always be a winner. You are not only the daughter of India but also her pride),” he further wrote.

Following the major heartbreak at the grand sporting arena, Vinesh took to social media on Thursday morning to announce her decision to retire from wrestling via an emotional post.

“Ma, wrestling has won, I have lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my courage, everything is broken,” Vinesh expressed on X.

“I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I shall be indebted to you all. Forgive (me),” the post read further.

Rio Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi, too, reacted to Vinesh’s decision to retire. She encouraged Vinesh and saluted her spirit.

“Vinesh tum nahi haari, har wo beti haari hai jinke liye tum ladi aur jeeti. Ye poore Bharat desh ki haar hai. Desh tumhare saath hai. Khiladi ke taur pe unke sangharsh aur jazbe ko salaam (Vinesh, you did not lose, every daughter for whom you fought and won has lost. This is the defeat of the whole country. The nation is with you),” Sakshi posted on X.

Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to Vinesh in the semifinals, replaced her in the final against American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt.

The 29-year-old Vinesh has appealed against her Olympic disqualification with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and has demanded a joint silver medal in the 50kg weight category.

Vinesh, who was playing in her third Olympics, made historyTuesday by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final at the Olympics. But her redemption story in Paris, after a disappointing campaign in the Tokyo Olympics, ended in heartbreak as she got disqualified before her gold medal bout Wednesday.

She missed out on a medal in the Rio Olympics because of an injury. Vinesh was stretchered off the mat in tears. In the Tokyo Olympics, she was seeded first in the women’s 53kg and began with a win over Sweden’s Sofia Mattsson but lost her quarterfinals bout against Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya and could not progress further.

She was found 100 grams over the limit for 50 kg and thus, was ruled out from the Paris competition and placed last as per United World Wrestling rules.

She had kept awake and worked hard along with her coach, support staff and Indian contingent’s chief medical officer all night to shed weight that she had gained to replenish the vital fluids lost in the three bouts and get to 50 kg but to no avail, and she turned out overweight by just 100 gm.

Vinesh was so dehydrated by her efforts that she had to be admitted to the polyclinic in the Games Village for IV drips.

The wrestler from Haryana has three Commonwealth Games golds, two World Championships bronze medals and one Asian Games gold medal to her name. She was also crowned Asian Champion in 2021.