India, May 18 -- Days after she identified herself as one of the women who had accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, then the head of the Wrestling Federation of India, of harassing her sexually, Vinesh Phogat received a show-cause notice from the federation. Among the many charges along with 'indiscipline' and apparent anti-doping violations, she was asked to explain was "the loss of an assured Olympic medal for India" at the Paris Olympics, which the notice said, had caused "lasting reputational damage to Indian wrestling."

It takes a particularly perverse mind to hold Phogat responsible for the biggest heartbreak of her career. The disappointment was so real, so visceral, that it prompted her to announce her retirement on social media. ...