Phogat and her team are aiming for a silver medal, as she had reached the summit clash before her expulsion, but the IOC has already clarified that two wrestlers cannot finish second in the women’s 50kg freeweight category.
Phogat’s heroic run to the final was cut short when she was found to be 100 grams overweight before her medal match. As a result, she was declared last in her category and even had her silver medal taken away.
Neeraj Chopra endorses Vinesh Phogat
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is keeping his fingers crossed for wrestler Phogat as she awaits the verdict on her appeal against disqualification from the Games, but at the same time, he also hopes that “people don’t forget what she did for the country” if the decision is not in her favour.
Chopra, who won her second consecutive Olympic medal (a silver after the gold in Tokyo), said she wants Vinesh to wear the medal around her neck for a simple reason: “People should not forget her.” “If she gets the medal, it would be very good. If things had not turned out the way they did, she would have got the medal. I hope she gets it because if you don’t wear it around your neck, that thing stays in your heart,” Chopra, 26, told reporters at India House after being congratulated by Nita Ambani, IOC member and chairperson of the Reliance Foundation.
“Today people may say that she is our champion, but they will forget it after a few days. If it wasn’t for that, a medal wouldn’t have mattered. So I hope she gets the medal. I just hope that whether she gets it or not, people don’t forget what she did for the country,” she said.
Chopra is the first track and field athlete from the country to win two Olympic medals. His gold in Tokyo remains an unrivalled achievement for Indian athletics.
(With PTI inputs)
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