Watch | Vinesh Phogat receives heroic welcome at Delhi Airport on return after Paris Olympics

Champion wrestler Vinesh Phogat received a heroic welcome at Delhi International Airport on return after participating in the Paris Olympics on Saturday. Vinesh lost her Olympic medal after she was disqualified from the women’s 50kg final for being 100gm overweight.

Wrestlers Sakshee Malikkh, Bajrang Punia, and her family gave Phogat a grand welcome on arrival at the airport. She had to stay back in Paris as she had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a joint silver medal. The appeal was dismissed on Wednesday.

The crowd showered flowers on teary-eyed Phogat. She was taken on a procession in an open jeep from the airport. Wrestler Sakshee Malikkh, who received Phogat at the airport said, “What Vinesh has done for the country, very few people do it. She should get more respect and appreciation,” ANI reported. Bajrang Punia told ANI that the countrymen are giving tremendous love to Phogat.

London Olympics bronze medal-winning shooter Gagan Narang, who was along with Phogat on the flight, tweeted, “She came as a champion on day 1 into the games village and she will always remain our champion. Sometimes one doesn’t need an Olympic medal to inspire a billion dreams...@vineshphogatyou have inspired generations... Salute to your grit.”

Phogat had announced her retirement from wrestling after her dismissal. In an emotional note posted on social media on Friday, Phogat said she is unsure about her future as things might never be the same again.

“To my team, my fellow Indians and my family, it feels like: the goal that we were working towards and what we had planned to achieve is unfinished, that something might always remain missing, and that things might never be the same again,” she wrote.

"Maybe under different circumstances, I could see myself playing till 2032, because the fight in me and wrestling in me will always be there. I can't predict what the future holds for me, and what awaits me in this journey next, but I am sure that I will continue to fight always for what I believe in and for the right thing," Phogat added.