Why did Vinesh Phogat, who normally maintains a weight of 55-56 kg, enter the 50 kg weight category? Why did she not withdraw? Vinesh, who is playing international competitions without trials, has the power to do so. Why did she take such a risk, which could lead to her disqualification and disappointment and embarrassment on the part of the country? She should have also been concerned about her supporters, who have been her companions in the struggle for the last one and a half years.
Both the political parties have dealt with the Vinesh Phogat case keeping the upcoming Haryana elections in mind. Because in Haryana, Vinesh is not only a name in sports but also in politics. For about one and a half years, she has been silently opening a front against the Wrestling Federation, its former president Brajbhushan Sharan Singh and the entire Modi government. Therefore, the BJP leadership issued very restrained and sympathetic statements on Vinesh’s Olympic episode, while the opposition left no stone unturned in running a ‘conspiracy’ narrative. What could have been a better opportunity than this to refuel the anti-BJP torch lit by Vinesh.
The electoral selfishness of politicians is understandable, but the media is a different mess. Some ‘journalists’ and ‘experts’ are busy proving how the Wrestling Federation conspired against Vinesh and how she was forced to play in the 50 kg weight category. While she is a player of the 53 kg category. Till yesterday, all these great people, unconcerned about Vinesh’s weight category, were celebrating vulgarly on how Vinesh had defeated PM Modi in Paris. All the opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi were seen taking a dig at the Modi government on the pretext of Vinesh. A cartoonist gave his pen to this sentiment, and drew the scene of the wrestling mat where Vinesh is riding on the back of Brij Bhushan who is lying face down. They did not know that destiny was going to elbow their vulgar celebration on the pretext of Vinesh.
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Those who have been following the selection process of wrestlers know how Vinesh has been sent to international competitions for the last one year without playing trials. Her category rival Anant Panghal had to go to court due to the preference given to Vinesh by the Government of India and the Federation. His grief was that despite winning all the trial matches in the 53 kg weight category, he was being kept on standby, while Vinesh, who did not give trials, was being given the country’s representation.
When Vinesh won her three matches in the Olympics, the whole country was stunned. Perhaps such an amazing performance was not expected. Because like Vinesh, Bajrang Punia was sent to participate in the Asian Games without playing the trials. And he was badly defeated there. Well, today when the matter of Vinesh’s weight came to light, it was found that she normally weighs 55-56 kg and after losing about three kg, she plays in the 53 kg category. She played her last match in the 50 kg category in the Rio Olympics in 2016. Since this time after fighting the court battle and winning all the trials, Anant Panghal had made it to the Olympics in this category, Vinesh had the option of the 50 kg category only. The only risk for Vinesh was whether she would be able to maintain the weight of this category or not. Which could not happen.
The hopelessness that came to the country through Vinesh is being consoled by saying that Vinesh did not sleep the whole night to lose weight. She kept running. She cycled. She did not eat or drink anything. She even cut her hair. In the end, she became so dehydrated that she had to be admitted to the hospital. So will anyone tell that the other wrestlers who reached the final of the 50 kg category also tried the same to lose weight? No. There was no competition to lose weight there. And neither was there any medal to be given for that.
Actually, Vinesh was trying to enter the weight category for which she was not comfortable. Such shameful suggestions were also floating in the media that if Vinesh had been given some time on the pretext of injury, then the matter would have been resolved. However, such methods are called Jugaad in India. Such Jugaad was also done by the dismissed IAS officer Pooja Khedkar, who was in the news recently, who got fake certificates ranging from caste to her poverty and disability to pass the UPSC examination. Well, those who are champions do not look for ifs and buts. If Vinesh had to play in the 50 kg category, then she had to maintain this weight continuously. It was risky to try like this in a competition. And there are many examples of this all over the world. The difference is that Vinesh is not an ordinary player. Apart from wrestling, she is fighting many battles, in which honesty is paramount. Her getting disqualified like this is really heart-breaking.
To be politically correct, Vinesh may be told that ‘she is the champion of champions’. On the contrary, many lessons should be learnt from Vinesh’s Olympic episode-
1. You cannot become a topper by studying the night before. If you want to become a topper, you have to maintain the same level and perform consistently at a high level. Vinesh has not played in the 50 kg category for the last eight years.
2. If you go to the world without internal evaluation, then the chances of failure increase. Vinesh should not have been sent to big competitions without trials.
3. Celebrating failure is the most negative thing. This also lowers the benchmarks for other competitors. If Vinesh is called a ‘champion’ despite being unqualified, then what will be the incentive for success?
4. A player is a player and a leader is a leader. Vinesh is an exception. It is rare that you can represent the country at the highest level of sports by doing politics. This should not be considered ideal.
5. It is being said about Vinesh that she was only 100 grams overweight, so that much concession can be given. It is not about 100 grams of weight, it is about that one number, on getting or not getting which you are declared pass or fail.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)