Bollywood Stars Show Support for Vinesh Phogat Amid Disqualification Heartbreak

Mumbai: Social media users, including celebs such as actors Farhan Akhtar, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Taapsee Pannu among others, expressed their shock and disappointment.

“Vinesh Phogat you are an inspiration to the entire nation. Nothing can take away your resilience, nothing can take away your courage & nothing can take away the hardships you’ve been through to create history! Today you must be heartbroken to say the least and we are heartbroken with you. But woman you are gold – you are iron and you are steel!!!!!!! AND NOTHING CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU! A champion for the ages! There is no one like you,” actor Alia Bhatt wrote on Instagram.

“This is heartbreaking,” actor Fatima Sana Sheikh wrote on her Instagram story. “Heartbreaking, but honestly this woman has already made her mark beyond gold by now (sic),” actor Taapsee Pannu wrote on Instagram.

Taapsee Pannu, who is awaiting the release of her upcoming movie ‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba’, shared on Wednesday that she is heartbroken over the shocking disqualification of Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat from the Paris Olympics.

“In these games, there is no 3rd umpire or a 3rd judgement person (sic). I’m heartbroken at what has happened just like everyone else in the country is right now,” the actress told IANS.

Pannu, a sports buff, added that: “After all, it’s sports, you win some, you lose some. It’s not humanly possible for a sportsperson to win all the contests.”

She said that things work differently in the Olympics as she returned to Mumbai from Paris after watching the Olympics.

In one of the major heartbreaks for Indian wrestling, Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the women’s 50kg event at the Paris Olympics after being weighed a “few grams over” the permissible limits on Wednesday morning.

“It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning,” the Indian Olympic Association said.

Moreover, the Indian grappler will be placed last as per UWW rules.

On Tuesday, Vinesh became the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final of an Olympic Games after she defeated Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman 5-0 in the semifinal.

She started her campaign by stunning world No. 1, Japan’s four-time World Champion and Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Yui Susaki, who was undefeated in 95 international matches, in her entire career as a wrestler.

Vinesh is also the first Indian woman to have won gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games.