Surrounded by lush green fields, Balali is a small village in Haryana with more trophies than people. But over the last few days, Balali has been unusually glum. The narrow lanes, flanked by houses with weathered walls and tiled roofs, stood in silent rows as if holding their breath. The buffaloes, usually the life of the streets, too appeared subdued. There was only one question on everyone’s mind: Will Vinesh Phogat bring home the Olympic silver?
“It is difficult,” says a sombre Divender, Vinesh’s neighbour in Balali. “She deserves it. But nothing in this world happens before the right time and fate,” he says.
The village had started celebrating and preparing for the Olympian’s triumphant return when she won 5-0 against Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman in the semi-finals of the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling at the Paris Olympics, assuring herself a silver medal. Everyone at her home was sure she could bring home the gold. However, the news of her disqualification over being a 100-gram over the limit at the weigh-in, left everyone in Balali heartbroken. Her subsequent announcement that she’ll retire sent the village further into shock.
Vinesh, who normally competes in the 53 kg category had cut her weight down to compete in the 50 kg freestyle wrestling at the Paris Olympics. She maintained her weight throughout the competition but after the semifinal night, Vinesh was found to be 2 kg overweight. She did not sleep all night, kept skipping, running and jumping. She did not eat or drink anything, took sauna baths to cut down her weight, but in vain.
“What happened was unfortunate but we will ask her to reconsider her retirement. It was the responsibility of her coaches, her support staff to ensure everything went as per plan. She has been wronged,” says Rahul, a relative of Vinesh Phogat.
A dream unfulfilled
The gold medal was not only Vinesh’s dream but the lifelong ambition of her uncle and mentor Mahavir Phogat, who is responsible for providing the Indian wrestling with six women grapplers over the years, including Olympians, and Commonwealth and World Championship medallists.
A hardened Haryanvi pehelwan, Mahavir Phogat is a man of rules and few words. During the day, he is found mostly in his room next to the Mahavir Phogat VMPS school, where he used to teach wrestling to young female aspirants. This is the school where he also taught wrestling to his daughters Geeta, Babita, Ritu, Sangeeta, and his nieces Priyanka and Vinesh (. Since the news broke of Vinesh’s disqualification, he has refused to even step on to the wrestling floor. He had fought with his villagers and his own family to let his daughters compete in wrestling.
Lately, he has not been eating at all, complains his friend Rajesh Sharma, sarpanch of Jhojhu Kalan where the school is situated. “He mostly sleeps these days, and barely speaks to anyone. The news has been a rude shock for him too,” he says. Sharma and a few other well-wishers, have kept Phogat company over the past few days. They console him that the best lawyers are fighting for Vinesh to get a medal, but nothing seems to convince him.
‘What were the coaches and staff doing?’
The village that was cheering its daughter’s achievement until the night before, turned angry on August 7. Vinesh was not only a promising face for the Indian contingent at the Olympics but she was also the face of last year’s wrestlers’ protest. Vinesh, along with Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, led months of protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP leader who has been accused of sexual harassment by several female wrestlers. In April, she had expressed on her X handle that Brij Bhushan and his aide Sanjay Singh were "trying in every way to stop me from playing in the Olympics".
“The (wrestling) federation still has his (Brij Bhushan’s) dummies working. Did the coaches and staff not know of the rules? How did they let her weight increase so much on the eve of the final match? We are thankful that at least she is still healthy,” says Mahavir Thekedar, a resident of Balali village.
“What happened with Vinesh has left other young women in this village devastated,” he adds. “She deserved the gold. It was in her capacity. But we don’t know what happened in the end. Her coaches should answer this,” says another villager.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has accepted the appeal made by Vinesh and her team against her disqualification. She had appealed that she deserved a joint silver medal because she had won all the matches up till the semi-finals with her weight under the stipulated limit of 50kg. So far, the verdict for her silver medal has been deferred, leaving not only her village but the entire nation in anticipation.
“It is important to note that she was the face of the wrestlers’ protest where she was also mistreated. Ye Rajneeti ka akhara hai (this is the wrestling ground of politics),” says Rajesh Sharma.
Many conspiracies have flourished over the past week. For Mahavir Phogat, however, her disqualification was “within the rules”, just like the Japanese wrestler in Tokyo Olympics three years ago who was disqualified for being 50 grams overweight.
His eyes were teary, and his voice trembled as he spoke of Vinesh. On her retirement announcement, he said: “She was overwhelmed. When someone reaches so far and then fails, it is natural to take drastic measures. We will sit with her. Me, Somveer (Vinesh’s husband), Bajrang, her mother - all of us will try and change her mind.”
