Indian woman wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who had a heartbreaking exit from the Rio 2016 Olympics, is determined to get the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 22-year-old from Haryana had received the Arjuna Award from President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday, also the National Sports Day 2016.
Vinesh, one of the biggest medal prospects from the Indian wrestling contingent in Rio, was gunning for glory right from the start of her women's 48 kg freestyle wrestling opening bout in the event. The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist gave a stellar performance against Emilia Alina Vuc of Romania in the round of 16 of the event and won via greater superiority.
Plenty was expected from her in the next round where she took on China's Sun Yanan. Everything was going smooth when disaster struck Vinesh in the middle of the fight. The Indian wrestler badly twisted her knee and was left writhing in pain over the mat. The sight looked very disturbing for everyone pinning hopes on her, but the reality had to be faced.
Vinesh was stretchered out, but it was good to see the crowd at the Carioca Arena 2 giving an ovation to her. China's Yunan, who went on to win the bronze medal in the event, also lent her support to Vinesh as she was taken away from the venue.
On Monday, Vinesh was greeted with the loudest applause at the Rashtrapati Bhavan when she arrived on a wheelchair to receive the Arjuna Award from President Pranab Mukherjee. The President went three steps down to present the prestigious award to Vinesh amid the applause from every seat in the hall.
On Tuesday, Vinesh took to Twitter to mention that she was overwhelmed with the support she received from her well-wishers and highlighted that her gold medal aims are still intact. "Yesterday I got the Arjuna award. I feeling very proud to be a wrestler and sportswoman. [sic]," wrote Vinesh.
"Thanx everyone for supporting me in every situation irrespective of my win or loss. Everybody has made me feel really really special by saying that I m not loser but a winner. I will never let down your confidence in me. I promise you that the gold medal which I missed in Rio, I will surely get it in Tokyo Olympics 2020," she added.
