India’s 2024 Olympic journey in Paris will be remembered less for its final medal tally–India won one less medal in Paris than in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics—but more for the way freestyle wrestling champion Vinesh Phogat dominated the headlines.
Phogat is not just a sportsperson. She represents a social breakthrough, a liberation from the norm, and an image of tough self-reliant independence. She’s unafraid to defy paternalistic authority, unbending in the face of assault, ready to scream, protest on the street and risk her all for the sake of her mission.
