Yogeshwar Dutt, who won a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics, stated that celebrating Vinesh Phogat after her return from the Olympics was a mistake.
Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics was one of the major moments for India at the Games. She was found to be 100 grams over the allowed weight during her second weigh-in, leading to her being disqualified. This event triggered a wave of sympathy from many people in India and the wrestling community.
Upon her return to India from Paris, Vinesh was greeted like a hero. However, she had retired from wrestling soon after the disqualification and, despite trying to overturn the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), she was unsuccessful.
Yogeshwar Dutt’s Remarks
While many celebrated Vinesh, Yogeshwar Dutt, who won a bronze medal in the London Olympics, believes she should have apologized to the nation for missing the medal. Speaking at the Panchayat AajTak Haryana 2024 event, Dutt expressed his views. “If someone is disqualified at the Olympics, the first thing they should do is apologize to the country for their mistake and the missed opportunity for a medal. Instead, it was made to look like a conspiracy,” he said.
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Vinesh Phogat’s Involvement in Protests and Politics
Vinesh was one of the key figures in last year’s protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The protest arose after seven female wrestlers filed a sexual harassment case against him. Since coming back from Paris, both Vinesh and Bajrang Punia, another prominent protestor, have joined the Congress party. Vinesh is now running for the Haryana Assembly election from Julana.
Yogeshwar Dutt on Blaming the Prime Minister
Yogeshwar Dutt, who joined the BJP in 2019 but was not selected by the party for the upcoming state elections, also addressed the accusations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding Vinesh’s disqualification. “Blaming the Prime Minister and saying it was a conspiracy to disqualify her was wrong. Everyone knows that the rules are the same, whether the weight difference is 1 gram, 10 grams, or 100 grams. The wrong impression was spread across the country,” he said.
Yogeshwar Dutt’s Opinion on the Situation
As one of the three Indian wrestlers to win an Olympic medal, alongside KD Jadhav and Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt criticized the reaction to Vinesh’s disqualification. “Instead of acknowledging the loss of a medal, a false narrative was created, suggesting something unfair happened to Vinesh. If I were in her position, I would have apologized to the entire country for failing to manage my weight and for losing the medal. But here, we are celebrating, while the Prime Minister is being criticized. This practice of celebrating someone’s mistake is very wrong in India,” Dutt added.
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