Jhajjar (Haryana) [India], August 17 : Vinesh Phogat on Saturday received a grand welcome as she arrived home in Haryana's Jhajjar after her Paris Olympics 2024 disqualification.
Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda and her uncle Mahavir Phogat also joined other close friends and relatives who had gathered to welcome her in Jhajjar.
Vinesh was welcomed with garlands and given a bouquet of flowers.
Earlier, while speaking toduring a roadshow celebrating Vinesh's return to her home state, Harvinder and Premlata, Vinesh's brother and mother expressed happiness at her warm welcome back home after Paris Olympics heartbreak, where she became the first Indian woman to reach the final of the wrestling competition but got disqualified for breaching the weight limit.
The Haryana-born wrestler received a loud and electric welcome back home at Delhi Airport and turned emotional and broke into tears during the reception event.
A huge crowd had gathered to welcome Vinesh, which also included wrestlers and Olympic medalists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia.
Flower petals were showered on the ace wrestler, celebrating her heroics at the Olympics, which saw her defeat the Tokyo 2020 gold medalist and top seed Yui Susaki of Japan, to start the campaign.
In Paris, Vinesh became the first Indian woman wrestler to make the final of an Olympics.
She was, however, disqualified from the 50 kg gold medal bout after she was found to be 100 gms overweight. Vinesh was set to face Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the United States for the gold medal on August 7. She was disqualified before the women's 50kg final after exceeding the 50kg weight limit before the final on August 7. During the weigh-in, she was found to be 100 grams over the limit. Following her disqualification, Vinesh appealed to award her the silver medal in the 50kg weight category.
On Wednesday the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed her petition to be awarded a joint silver. She announced her retirement from wrestling on August 8, a day after her disqualification.
On August 8, Vinesh penned an emotional to announce her decision to retire from wrestling. "Maa kushti (wrestling) won against me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream and my courage have been broken. I don't have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to you all for forgiveness," Vinesh Phogat said in her post.
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