‘My mother’s fighting spirit makes me what I am’: Vinesh Phogat’s emotional post

Vinesh Phogat posted a heartfelt note of gratitude on X ahead of her return to India after her appeal for a joint silver medal was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Vinesh, the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final only to be disqualified for being 100 g overweight, expressed her gratitude to all those who contributed towards her goal and accompanied her on her journey over the past few years.

She thanked her entire support team, including Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, Dr Wayne Patrick Lombard, her coach Woller Akos, her physio Ashwini Jeevan Patil, Tajinder Kaur, Gagan Narang, the Olympic Gold Quest team, and several others for their contributions.

Vinesh begins the letter on a nostalgic note, beginning with her childhood, “Olympic rings: as a small girl from a small village, I did not know what was the Olympics or what these rings meant. As a small girl, I dreamt of things like long hair, flaunting a mobile phone in my hand, and doing all these things that any young girl would normally dream of.”

‘Loss of childhood’

She talks about her family, her father’s dreams that she would one day fly high in a plane, the tragic period when her father died and her mother was left to take care of three kids, and how her mother was then diagnosed with stage 3 cancer just a couple of months after her father’s death.

She shares about the loss of their childhood as she and her siblings had to support their single mother, and their introduction to the race of survival.

‘Race of survival’

“But survival taught me a lot. Seeing my mother’s hardships, never-give-up attitude and fighting spirit is what makes me the way I am. She taught me to fight for what is rightfully mine. When I think about courage, I think about her, and it is this courage that helps me every fight without thinking about the outcome,” writes Vinesh.

She goes on to say that despite a difficult road ahead, her family never lost their faith in God and always trusted that He had planned the right things for them. She wrote that her mother always said God would never let bad things happen to good people.

‘Her husband – soulmate, best friend for life’

Vinesh says she believed this even more when she crossed paths with Somvir, her husband, soulmate, companion, and best friend for life. She says she continues her fight only because she knows her husband is standing with her, behind her, and when needed in front of her, always protecting her.

She goes on to write about each member of her support staff, and how valuable their efforts have been in her journey.