JULANA, India. – Indian Olympic wrestling star Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Paris Games, but she’s determined to keep fighting for her constituency and against sexual harassment of women as she contests state elections this Saturday.
Phogat retired from wrestling after she was disqualified ahead of the women’s 50 kg freestyle final for failing to make weight.
She now spends her days campaigning in her native state of Haryana for the main opposition Congress party, receiving blessings from party elders and building on the momentum that she and other wrestlers created last year by protesting against a politician charged with sexually harassing women athletes.
“I’m here to bring change in all sectors and take care of everyone equally, especially the women in my constituency,” Phogat, 30, said ahead of one of her door-to-door campaigns.
“It’s crucial that the struggle we started against sexual harassment two years ago meets a beautiful and fulfilling ending. Harassment happens in all sectors, some cases come into public light, and some do not.”
Phogat and other wrestlers including Sakshi Malik, an Olympic bronze medalist, were the faces of a months-long protest demanding criminal action against the then-chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
A Delhi court this year charged Singh, a former lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, with sexual harassment and criminal intimidation. He denied any wrongdoing.
Phogat is a celebrity in the Julana constituency of Haryana, and her family of wrestlers were the subject of Bollywood blockbuster “Dangal.”
She recalled how empty she felt after her disqualification from the Olympics, but said the support of her community helped her find a new purpose in politics.
“I used to stay home all day. But hundreds of people visited me every day, asked me to not abandon the spirit of the fighter,” she said.
