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Vinesh, who had stormed into the final of the women’s 50kg wrestling event in the Paris Olympics only to get disqualified in the end, was mobbed by journalists as well as fans after arriving in New Delhi on Saturday. read more
 "Love and the respect that I have received is worth more than 1,000 gold medals")
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat was given a hero's welcome in New Delhi on Saturday following her arrival from Paris, where her incredible Olympic campaign ended with a heartbreak. PTI
The love and respect that she has received upon her return to India after the Paris Olympics is worth more than a thousand gold medals, ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat said on Saturday.
The 29-year-old grappler was mobbed by journalists as well as fans after landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Saturday, with fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik receiving her at the airport.
Watch | Vinesh Phogat cannot hold back tears after arriving in New Delhi following Paris heartbreak
“Although they didn’t give me the gold medal, people here have given me that. The love and the respect that I have received is more than 1,000 gold medals,” Vinesh, who was beaming with joy, told reporters in the national capital.
Watch:
VIDEO | "Although they didn't give me the Gold medal, people here have given me that. The love and the respect that I have received is more than 1,000 Gold medals," says wrestler Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) in Haryana's Badli. #ParisOlympics2024
(Full video available on PTI… pic.twitter.com/mBfznGwb9Q
Vinesh had produced a stellar performance in the recently-concluded Paris Olympics, where she won each of her three bouts last Tuesday to become the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for an Olympic final. The grappler from Haryana had defeated Japan’s Yui Susaki in her opening bout, halting her 82-match winning streak in the process.
Vinesh, however, was in for a heartbreak the following day as she was disqualified from the women’s 50kg event for being overweight by a mere 100 grams. She failed her second weigh-in despite resorting to drastic measures such as cutting her hail, starving herself and even drawing blood.
Read | Vinesh Phogat opens up on retirement, hints at possible comeback
She later lodged an appeal against her disqualification with an ad-hoc panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) specially set up in Paris for the Olympics, with four lawyers from the Paris Bar representing her.
The Lausanne-based body, however, dismissed her appeal earlier this week, resulting in Vinesh returning empty-handed instead of a joint-silver that she had asked for in the aftermath of her disqualification.
Had she passed her second weigh-in, Vinesh would have faced USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt and would have set her sights on securing the nation’s first-ever Olympic gold in wrestling.
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English (US) ·