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Delighted at having secured a quota in the Paris Olympics this year, champion wrestler Vinesh Phogat said on Sunday she wouldn't be weighted down by the pressure of expectations and will focus on giving off her best at the mega event.
Vinesh secured a berth for Paris after trouncing Laura Ganikyzy by 10-0 in the semifinals of the women's 50 kg during the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers. "I have fought two battles - one regarding weight cut (53kg to 50kg) and the other is the competition. On the mat, every performer becomes highly competitive. I had to switch weight class because of compulsion, not by choice. But I'm proud of having secured the quota for my country in 50kg," Vinesh was quoted as saying by Olympic.com. The three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Vinesh said there were still four months to go for the Paris Olympics and every day leading up to the prestigious event was important for her. "There are four months left and every single day will be important to me in the build-up to the Olympics. The focus will be on trying my best. I've been doing this for 20 years in the hopes of winning an Olympic medal keeps me going," the Asian Games gold medallist added. Vinesh conceded that there was mental pressure on her as she had no clue how her body would respond to manoeuvres on the mat. "In any other competition, the pressure might not have been this immense. There was a lot of mental pressure and I had no idea how my body would move on the mat because I had shed weight. Secondly, I'm recently returning from injury so that was also on my mind," Vinesh added. She said would give it her all to achieve what she could not in the last two Olympics she featured in. "It's been difficult so far, but when you win, it seems like all the struggles were worth it. I'll probably feel at peace with myself for the next four-five days but the Olympics are the main target. I'll try to achieve what I couldn't in the last two Olympics," the two-time World Championship bronze medalist added. The victory in the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers has taken her a step closer to achieving her third successive Olympic berth. Though she won a quota for the Paris Games, it belongs to the country, instead of the individual, according to ESPN, thereby implying that it was on the Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) to decide if it wanted to send Vinesh or someone else to fill the quota. This competition, nonetheless, marked her return to international wrestling after sustaining a knee injury last August, requiring surgery. Significantly, Vinesh was one of the prominent faces of the wrestlers' protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who they accused of sexual harassment. Vinesh, however, competed in the 50 kg category instead of her usual 53 kg division at the qualifying event. Young wrestler Antim Panghal has already secured a quota for the Paris 2024 Olympics in the 53 kg category. This was also her major international outing since the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where she won gold. She also won gold in the 55 kg category in the nationals in February this year and finished first in the 50 kg division during the trials in March. (ANI)
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