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I ndian wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics came as a shocking news, leaving Indian fans devastated. While the 29-year-old rocked the world as she became the first Indian wrestler to enter the final of women’s 50kg, she even went on to beat the invincible and world champion, Japan’s Yiu Susaki.
What was even shocking was Phogat stunning the world number one ranked wrestler in the final seconds to register match winning points and advance to the next round with a scoreline of 3-2. On the contrary, the Japanese wrestler, who entered the 2024 Paris Olympics as the reigning gold medallist and four-time World Champion, said that she committed “a betrayal” for not winning the gold.
"I had the honour of winning the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics! First of all, thank you so much for all your support. It has really helped me out! I wanted to see my family, teammates, and fans who have fought with me for the past three years to win the gold medal, but I couldn't do it, and I'm so sorry and frustrated that I committed a betrayal," Susaki wrote in a note that was shared by United World Wrestling.
"Despite the loss, encouraging words from all over the world and worlds that they still believe in me and will continue to support me. I wasn't able to reply, but I read every message, one by one, and I can't measure how much it touched my heart, how much it saved my heart, and how much it made me want to keep moving forward. Thank you so much! As long as there are people who still support me and believe in me, I am strongly willing to keep going hard again to achieve my goal of becoming an Olympic champion," she further added.
It is to be noted that before her defeat against Phogat, Susaki had not lost any of her 82 bouts in her international career.
