Indian wrestler who was disqualified after making Olympic history breaks her silence

An Indian wrestler who was disqualified from the 50-kilogram gold medal match hours after she made Olympic history is speaking out after a week of silence.

Vinesh Phogat, who was eliminated last week due to being “a few grams” over the weight class shortly after she had become the first woman from Team India to make the Olympic finals, released a statement Friday expressing both gratitude for her journey as well as disappointment for its end.

Phogat, who was still praised by Indian fans because of her activism for women’s rights and against sexual harassment in her sport, said that her early departure from the competition made her feel as though “what we had planned to achieve is unfinished.”

“All I want to say is that we did not give up, our efforts did not stop, and we did not surrender but the clock stopped and the time was not fair. So was my fate,” she said of attempting to make the weight class. “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.”

“All I want to say is that we did not give up, our efforts did not stop, and we did not surrender but the clock stopped and the time was not fair. So was my fate,” she said of attempting to make the weight class. “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.”

The statement comes days after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Phogat’s application to be awarded a shared silver medal for the women’s freestyle 50-kilogram competition.

The 29-year-old had been slated to wrestle Team USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt in Wednesday’s final, after besting reigning gold medalist Yui Susaki of Japan in addition to Ukraine’s Oksana Livach in the quarterfinal and Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semifinal. The court consequently upheld the decision from United World Wrestling to replace Phogat in that match and is expected to release the reasoning on its website.

Phogat also credited her Olympic journey to the dreams of her late father as well as the resilience of her single mother, who was diagnosed with cancer just after being widowed.

“When I think about courage, I think about her and it is this courage that helps me fight every fight without thinking about the outcome,” she said.

Naming several others including her husband, fellow wrestler Somvir Rathee, and coach, Woller Akos, Phogat shared her appreciation for her loved ones.

“These people and their faith in me was so strongly grounded, it is because of them that I could continue through the challenges and get through the past 2 years,” she said.

Phogat was involved in protests last year against the alleged behavior of then-Wrestling Federation of India president and lawmaker Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of harassing, groping and inappropriately contacting young female wrestlers. He was charged with assault, stalking and sexual harassment in June of last year, but has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Phogat, along with a group of fellow wrestlers, lodged police complaints and launched marches and other forms of resistance. In May 2023, she and several others were violently dragged and detained by riot police, accused of disturbing the peace after they attempted to march toward the Parliament building. Phogat said that she hoped the Olympics would be an opportunity to carry her country’s flag with pride.

“During the wrestlers protest I was fighting hard to protect the sanctity of women in India, the sanctity and values of our Indian flag. But when I look at the pictures of me with the Indian flag from 28th May 2023, it haunts me,” Phogat said in her statement. “It was my wish to have the Indian flag fly high this Olympics, to have a picture of the Indian flag with me that truly represents it’s value and restores it’s sanctity. … I really was hoping to show that to my fellow Indians.”

The statement came as a surprise to many fans, who had speculated that Phogat was retiring after her Olympics journey came to an end. She had written in a since-deleted social media post last week that her courage was “broken.”

“I don’t have any more strength now,” Phogat wrote in Hindi. “Goodbye Wrestling, 2001-2024.”

It seems, however, that this won’t be the last fans hear of the wrestler.

“There is so much more to say and so much more to tell but words will never be enough and maybe I will speak again when the time feels right,” she wrote in the recent statement.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com