The whole of India is yet to recover from the shock disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the 50 kg wrestling event in the Olympics being held at Paris. Notwithstanding the histrionics displayed by our politicians and "intellectuals" which was similar to adding insult to injury, there are many facts that remain undiscussed. In international events like Olympics, laws are not for breaking.
The judges are intransigent when it comes to rules and regulations. Questions like whether the Prime Minister would congratulate Vinesh Phogat are, to make it blunt, simply childish and premature.
In the melee that followed a la Vinesh Phogat affair, our sporting organisations and followers of the game forgot an event that happened during the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul. (Thankfully, there were no private satellite TV news channels dishing out cacophony round the clock). Shiny Wilson, an ace athlete from Kerala who reigned supreme in the 800 meter race was participating in the event and was on her way to set a new Asian record. She was well ahead of all other contestants when she inadvertently cut into the inner lane, which was an error and mistake.
Though there were no runners anywhere near Shiny, the organizers disqualified her. The entire nation was shocked and the entire news rooms across the country were stunned.
But there were no political discourse and channel discussions as sports had not degenerated into the level which we saw when Vinesh Phogat was disqualified. No prime minister or sports minister rang her up to console her. Shiny had courage in her and she was not the kind who ran away from battlefront.
In the Asian Track and Field Events of 1989 she won her favorite item with a gold medal.
The story is not yet over. Within months of her having a baby, Shiny ran the 800 meters in a career best time of 1 minute 59.85 seconds in the New Delhi edition of South Asian Federation Games in 1995 and raced with the gold medal to cuddle her baby.
The saying during those days was that Shiny ran better and faster after the child birth. Vinesh Phogat, are you reading this?
