Did Vinesh Phogat’s Battle Against Sexual Harassment Cost Her an Olympic Medal?

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified before the finals of 50 Kg category wrestling match on Wednesday, August 7 at the ongoing Paris Olympics hours after her sensational back to back victories made her the first Indian women wrestler to ever compete for the gold. The disqualification of the 29-year-old wrestler has generated a political storm in India.

The news breaking just before the final match turned the widespread celebration in India into an expression of sadness and anger against the Indian officials accompanying her at the games with several people speculating about a possible sabotage.

Read this IE story to see how Phogat became overweight after her semi final win. She was given some ORS by the Indian officials which increased her weight to 52.7 Kg! They expected her to shed 2.7Kg overnight for which she was made to workout the whole night!
Negligence! Wilful? pic.twitter.com/dMPat7uJzl

— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) August 8, 2024

Opposition members in the Indian parliament staged a boycott of the day’s proceedings on Wednesday accusing the government of failing to rightfully defend Phogat in front of Olympics officials and even trying to demean her achievements so far for political reasons.

On Wednesday, Phogat was found to be a mere 100 grams above the 50 kg on the morning before the match and as per the rules of the game she was disqualified. She was even denied the silver medal. Officials rejigged the final match with asking Cuban wrestler Yusneylys Guzman, who had lost to Phogat a day earlier in the semi-finals, to compete with Sarah Hildebrant from the US. Sarah eventually won the gold medal.

During her race to the finals, Phogat had defeated four times world champion and defending gold medalist Yui Susaki from Japan who, in the rejigging after Phogat’s disqualification was made to compete for the bronze medal which she won.

Phogat, who is fighting a tough battle against the Indian government, had taken to social media in April to express her frustrations at bureaucratic delays by the officials in providing her necessary supporting staff just before the trials for the Olympics started. She had also expressed apprehensions about the possible sabotage from the officials as well.

There was a controversy over the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) forcing Phogat to compete in a category much below her natural weight category. She had been participating in the 53 kg category earlier but now was asked to compete in the 50 kg category or forfeit her chances to go to Paris.

Hours after her disqualification on Wednesday, Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling claiming she has no more energy left to fight multiple battles.

Phogat’s fight against sexual harassment 

Phogat’s victories on Tuesday had energized Indians in general. Given the rarity of medals India wins at the Olympics each of them are cherished as a treasure in the country. However, in the case of Phogat the celebrations were louder due to the conditions in which she was competing. Many thought a possible gold would vindicate her fight against the sexual harassment in sports in the country.

Phogat’s friend and Olympian Bajrang Punia was quoted saying that she was planning to retire after the games and dedicate her time to fight for the safe environment in the sports in the country for the future generation of female boxers.

Vinesh Phogat: a heroine indeed pic.twitter.com/dNW64Vg4Ld

— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 7, 2024

Just before the Olympics, Phogat and her colleagues were up against a very powerful lobby in sports in India backed by the ruling rightwing and hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Phogat along with Sakshee Malikkh and Punia, both of them Olympics medal winner wrestlers led a sit-in last year in May-June in the capital New Delhi demanding action against officials including the then head of WFI Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh alleging them to be involved in cases of sexual abuse against women wrestlers.

Sharan Singh was also a member of Indian parliament from the ruling BJP. The government led by prime minister Narendra Modi refused to take any action against the ruling party’s member of parliament. Instead, the sit-in in Delhi was attacked by the police and wrestlers were manhandled and forcefully removed from the venue.

A vicious campaign against Phogat and other wrestlers was launched by the ruling party on both social and mainstream media with unsubstantiated accusations of collaboration with opposition to politically malign BJP. Some of the social media users and anchors in the mainstream media questioned their credentials as wrestlers as well.

Though Sharan Singh left the WFI and charges of sexual harassment against him were raised by a court in Delhi later, he was successful in getting his close confidant Sanjay Singh elected as new WFI chief.

This led Sakshee to announce retirement from wrestling. She had already discarded her medals in opposition to the government’s alleged shielding of Sharan Singh. Punia too had alleged victimization by the WFI.

Despite these protests BJP went ahead and gave Sharan Singh’s son Karan Bhusan Singh a ticket for parliamentary elections held earlier this year confirming his political clout. Karan won the elections and is a member of parliament now.

The speculation about sabotage in the Paris games stems from the fact that officials were working under the influence of the ruling party and Sharan Singh who had a lot to lose if Phogat was able to win that medal against all odds.

Though Phogat has retired from sports, her struggle for gender justice and respect will continue to reverberate and shape Indian politics going forward.