A day after taking a subtle dig at Vinesh Phogat for protesting against Narendra Modi while congratulating the wrestler for her historic achievement at the Paris 2024 Olympics, actor turned politician Kangana Ranaut took a backtrack. She came forward to support Vinesh following her disqualification. Also read: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal and more support Vinesh Phogat after Olympics disqualification: ‘How devastated you must be’
Vinesh was disqualified from the finals at Paris Olympics 2024 for being overweight in the women’s 50kg category on the morning of her bout.
Message of support
Kangana took to Instagram Stories to show her support for Vinesh, and give her strength.
She reposted a image which suggested how the entire nation is supporting the wrestler. The image comes with a message, “Mat ro Vinesh, aapke saath khada hai pura desh (Don’t cry, the whole country is standing beside you)”.
She also reposted an image of Indian Olympic Association chief PT Usha meeting Vinesh on Instagram Stories, calling her ‘sherni’ (lioness).
On Tuesday, Kangana took to Instagram to react to Vinesh’s achievement, writing, “Fingers crossed for India’s first Gold Medal… Vinesh Phogat at one point took part in protests where she raised the slogans of ‘Modi teri Kabr khudegi.’ Yet she was given the opportunity to represent the nation and receive the best training, coaches, and facilities. This is the beauty of democracy and the mark of a great leader.”
It didn’t go down well by many. A section of the users on social media felt that her remarks were inappropriate and diminished Vinesh’s personal efforts and achievements.
About disqualification
In a cruel turn of fate, Vinesh, who had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout in the event on Tuesday night, was found 100-150 grams over the permissible limit and hence was disqualified. It is being said that she was two kilograms above her weight at night and hence did not sleep to try everything in her capacity to fit the eligibility criteria – from jogging to skipping and cycling. She fainted due to dehydration minutes after she was disqualified and is now hospitalised in Paris.
Several Bollywood stars, including Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Farhan Akhtar, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha and Varun Grover reacted to the heartbreaking news of the wrestler’s disqualification on their social media.
