Vinesh Phogat, after what she has been through in the last 18 months or so, out of nowhere, confirmed India's fourth medal at the Paris Olympics in women's 50kg category wrestling. The colour of the medal will be different as Vinesh became the first Indian female wrestler to make it to the Gold medal match and will become the seventh wrestler for India to win an Olympic medal after KD Jadhav, Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya.
Vinesh had her toughest bout in the very first round as she was up against the Japanese champion and top-seed Yui Susaki, who was coming into the clash with an 82-0 record in international wrestling. Vinesh didn't give up till the final minute and the last few seconds saw her make probably the biggest move of her career as she beat Susaki on points.
Vinesh jumped onto the match with a huge loud cry as she broke into tears. It meant so much to her more than just beating the reigning world champion. The quarter-final and the semi-final against Ukraine's Oksana Livach and Yusneylys Guzman of Cuba were relatively and figuratively child's play for Vinesh and she has her eyes set on that Olympic Gold.
From being dragged on the streets to staying on pavements for 40 days, Vinesh was at the centre of Indian wrestlers' massive protest alongside Sakshi and Bajrang Punia against the former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on sexual harassment charges. The wrestlers were ready to immerse their medals and achievements in their attempt to do everything to help the six wrestlers get justice but Brij Bhushan still remained in the good books of the ruling party and this medal and the fight from Vinesh just seems fruition of all the struggle and fight she put up off the field in the build-up to the Olympics.
As Vinesh made it to the wrestling final, a few of her tweets and posts from the protest days went viral. However, one of the posts dated March 12 earlier this year, resurfaced just for it to prove Vinesh prophetic as she wrote, "Dear haters, I have so much more for you to be mad at. Just be patient." Take a look at the reaction:
Vinesh will take on the USA's Sarah Hildebrandt in the final in the Gold medal bout.
