Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat paid a visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and had meetings with the jathedars of the Akal Takht and Takht Damdama Sahib on Friday.
Phogat received a replica of the Golden Temple as a gift
Phogat was warmly welcomed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), where she received a replica of the Golden Temple as a gift from Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghubir Singh and Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh.
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The Haryana wrestler donned a Punjabi suit and wrapped her head in a saffron turban while showing reverence at the top spiritual location of Sikhism.
Phogat, aged 30, received backing from Akal Takht and the SGPC when she spearheaded demonstrations at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to push for the registration of a sexual assault complaint against BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a Lok Sabha member at that time.
Sakshi Malik met Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh to garner support from Sikhs
Wrestler Sakshi Malik, who protested alongside Phogat, visited Punjab to meet Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh in order to garner support from the Sikh community. A group from SGPC traveled to Delhi afterwards to show their support for the wrestlers.
Phogat, a three-time Olympian, created history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by defeating the reigning Olympic champion Yui Susaki, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to reach an Olympic final. Nevertheless, she was eliminated for exceeding the specified weight restriction by a mere 100 grams during the weighing process on the second day of her competition. After being disqualified, she quickly declared that she was retiring from the sport.
Phogat has not yet announced her future plans, but there are speculations that she might make her debut in Haryana politics in the upcoming Assembly polls, most likely on a Congress ticket.
