: Saturday, 12 April 2025 08:37 am
New Delhi, Olympian and former wrestler Vinesh Phogat has announced that it will spend a Rs 4 crore prize from the Haryana government to open an international level Sports Academy. The award has been given to him for performance in the Paris Olympics 2024.
Haryana’s sports policy is considered to be the best in the country, which provides three options to players- land, job or cash. In the Olympics, gold medalists are given Rs 6 crore, silver medal winners Rs 4 crore and bronze medal winners Rs 2.5 crore.
Vinesh Phogat had reached the final of the women’s 50 kg category, but was disqualified due to a slight weight of the limit in the second weight test just before the final. Despite this, the Haryana government decided to give him an amount of Rs 4 crore equal to the silver medalist.
Vinesh opted to take this amount in cash and now she will use it to establish an international level sports academy to realize her years old dreams.
Vinesh wrote on the social media platform ‘X’ (earlier Twitter), “It is the real victory to respect a player’s hard work. The love, trust and strength that the public has given me, now is the time to pay his debt.” He further said, “Now my responsibility is not just one player, but also thousands of dreams that want to move towards a safe and positive future through sports.”
Vinesh wrote that his dream was always that the next generation players could get better facilities and inspirational environment. He thanked the government and the public and said that this award amount is not just reward, but is a medium to realize the dreams cherished for years.
The Paris Olympics became the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the Olympic Olympic final in the Olympics 2024. However, due to being 100 grams more than the weight range, she could not participate in the finals and later announced her retirement.
After retirement, Vinesh became active in politics and has now become an MLA by winning the Haryana assembly elections.
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Web Title-Vinesh Phogat to Open International Sports Academy with prize money from haryana government
