Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat received a warm welcome on Saturday when she arrived back home in New Delhi. Thousands of supporters gathered outside the IGI Airport, showing immense solidarity with her. Vinesh, who incurred a heartbreaking disqualification at the Paris Olympics earlier last week after reaching the final, was received by Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and panchayat leaders.

On August 6, Vinesh became the first Indian woman wrestler to make an Olympic final. However, before the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling final the following day, Vinesh was disqualified during the morning weigh-in as she was overweight by 100 grams and subsequently denied a medal. The heartbroken 29-year-old announced her retirement, but later sought to challenge the decision as he appealed against the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a joint silver medal. The application was dismissed on Wednesday in a decision by the Sole Arbitrator at the court.

On Saturday, Vinesh was heavily garlanded at the airport, where she broke down in tears at the sight of the support she received from her fans. She then stood in an open Jeep that made its way through the national capital amid thick security in her native village, Balali, in Haryana.

A group of 50 supporters followed her jeep. They offered prayers at a temple in Delhi's Dwarka before continuing their journey towards Balali.

Upon reaching her hometown, an overwhelmed Vinesh thanked her supporters. She said: “Although they didn't give me the Gold medal, people here have given me that. The love and the respect that I have received is more than 1,000 Gold medals.”

The feisty wrestler, in her first reaction after her disqualification, on Saturday said that under "different circumstances" she could see herself competing till 2032 because she still has a lot of wrestling left in her, but is now unsure about her future as things "might never be same again".

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