By Devadyuti Das |Edited by India.com Sports Desk

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat got a massive welcome on her return to India on Saturday morning from Paris. Although she failed to win a medal for the country, Vinesh got the biggest reception for a sportsperson – even bigger than some of the medallists at the recently concluded Paris Olympics 2024.

It took more than 12 hours for Vinesh’s cavalcade to move from Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi to her native village in Balali in Haryana – a journey that should take more than 3 hours by road. In fact, Vinesh reached her village almost past midnight as she had to stop at almost every Haryana village on the way as she was being accorded a hero’s welcome.

A video went viral on social media of Vinesh feeling sick during the felicitation at her native village, late on Saturday night. Vinesh was pushed to the limit trying the manage her weight during the wrestling 50kg category competition in Paris Olympics 2024 earlier this month.

The Indian grappler had to stay up all night, without food or water and train all through the night but was 100gms over her permitted body weight of 50kg which disqualified her from the competition after she had become the first Indian women grappler to reach the Olympics wrestling final.