Paris Olympics 2024: Phogat’s win over Susaki, one of the biggest upsets of these Games, made the entire Olympic universe stand up and acknowledge her.
History of success.
Vinesh Phogat started the day by slaying a giant and ended it by breaking a barrier. By making it to Wednesday’s final in the 50 kg category, she rose to a pedestal that no Indian woman wrestler has ever reached.
Pride for Nation.
After overcoming the defending champion, the so-far unbeatable Japan’s Yui Susaki, in the first round, Phogat took down Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semi-final to be a win away from an Olympic gold.Susaki is blessed with agility, speed, strength and flexibility. But she didn’t possess what Vinesh Phogat had: stubbornness and rage. That heady, intangible combination – along with a shrewd game plan executed to the T – propelled Phogat to an improbable win. Minutes later, she came to beat Ukraine’s Oksana Livach 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
It was, however, Phogat’s win over Susaki, one of the biggest upsets of these Games, that made the entire Olympic universe stand up and acknowledge her. And an outcome that has shaken the wrestling world – all of a sudden, an American grappler, Jordan Burroughs, who has been eulogized in Indian wrestling, was talking about an Indian.