Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
To fight the system alone is exhausting; to do it while carrying the hopes of a nation is superhuman. Vinesh Phogat’s historic journey and her relentless battles off the mat have cemented her status as a living legend.
As she entered Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Stadium on Saturday, May 30, for her high-stakes Asian Games trials, the scars of her recent struggles were met with a tidal wave of public adoration. Nowhere was this devotion clearer than in Manoj, a die-hard fan from Sonipat who has tracked Vinesh’s grit for a decade. Standing proudly in the crowd, Manoj wore a custom t-shirt declaring “Vinesh is a warrior” on the front and “Don’t Forget Vinesh Phogat” across the back.
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But his ultimate tribute was inked permanently on his skin: massive tattoos of the champion covering both his arms.
“I saw her get injured when she was so close to a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics,” Manoj recalled. “It was heartbreaking; otherwise, India would have won a medal right then. I became a massive fan at that exact moment.”
For Manoj, Phogat became an immortal figure after she announced her retirement. To ensure her legacy never fades, he got two distinct tattoos. His right arm depicts Vinesh walking away in her wrestling singlet with her hands raised in defiance, while his left arm features her face alongside the plea: Don’t forget Vinesh Phogat.
Their bond, however, goes back years. “I once left a comment on her Facebook post saying, ‘Didi, don’t worry about it, more medals will come. Just get well soon, 2020 is waiting for you.’ She loved it so much she actually reshared it on her official page!” Manoj said, beaming.
FROM COURTROOMS TO THE MAT
Manoj’s fierce loyalty mirrors the institutional hurdles Phogat had to clear just to lace up her boots. Her presence at the Asiad trials was only made possible after the Supreme Court refused to stay a Delhi High Court order that granted her permission to compete.
The legal showdown stemmed from the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) revised selection policy, which restricted trial participation to wrestlers meeting rigid eligibility criteria. The federation had declared Phogat ineligible following her return from maternity leave.
Refusing to back down, Phogat’s legal team successfully argued that the WFI’s criteria unfairly disadvantaged an accomplished, world-class athlete attempting to resume her career after childbirth.
Even after winning her day in court, the systemic friction followed her straight to the stadium gates. Phogat arrived at the Indira Gandhi Stadium at the crack of dawn, at 6:30 AM, but was made to wait nearly two hours, until 8:20 AM, just to complete her official weigh-in.
This bureaucratic roadblock comes on the heels of a previous setback in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, where she had planned her competitive comeback in the 57kg category at the Senior Open Ranking Tournament, only to be barred from competing by the WFI and forced to return empty-handed.
But despite the administrative delays and the psychological toll of the past few months, the stage is finally set. With the weight of a federation on her shoulders and the warmth of a nation at her back, Vinesh Phogat’s highly anticipated bout is scheduled to begin around 2:00 PM IST.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
