Vinesh Phogat became India’s first female wrestler to qualify for an Olympic final. (Photo Credits: Instagram)

Urvashi Rautela spoke about Vinesh Phogat at a promotional event for her new film, Ghuspaithiya.

The entire nation should have felt the emotion when Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics. She was slated to face Sarah Hilderbrandt of the USA in the women’s 50 kg freestyle final. Phogat was found to be 100 grams overweight during the last weigh-in on the day of the summit showdown, which led to her disqualification. Many Indian celebrities have shown their support for the 29-year-old wrestler, who announced her retirement following the heartbreak.

Bollywood actress Urvashi Rautela recently shared her thoughts on the topic at a promotional event for her new film, Ghuspaithiya. According to her, Vinesh Phogat has already achieved enough by representing India at the Paris Olympics but luck didn’t favour her in winning a medal.

“The most important thing is to represent the country. Everyone isn’t lucky enough to do something for their country. I was at the Paris Olympics and in my opinion, to represent the country at the international level is also a great achievement,” Urvashi Rautela was heard saying in a video on Instagram.

Vinesh Phogat became India’s first female wrestler to qualify for an Olympic final when she defeated Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semi-final. Earlier, she triumphed over reigning Olympic champion Yui Susaki in the first round. The Japanese wrestler had not lost any international match before getting thrashed by Phogat at the Paris Games.

In her retirement post on X, Vinesh Phogat wrote, “Wrestling beat me, I lost…please forgive me ..your dream. My courage, everything is broken. I don’t have any more strength left in me. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to you all..sorry.”

Following her disqualification, Yusneylis Guzman Lopez advanced to the gold medal match where she lost to Sarah Hilderbrandt to secure the silver medal. Phogat later appealed against the decision of her disqualification to the CAS, an international institution which oversees disputes related to sports and settles the matter through arbitration.

Phogat first appealed to the CAS to allow her to compete in the final which was rejected. On her second attempt, she appealed for the joint silver medal and it was considered. The CAS has asked the Indian contingent to arrange a lawyer and the hearing is scheduled at 10 AM local time in Paris today.