Vinesh Phogat

Vinesh Phogat (pronounced [ʋɪˈneːʃ ˈpʰoːɡɑːʈ]; born 25 August 1994) is an Indian freestyle wrestler and politician. She currently serves as the MLA of Julana constituency in Haryana, representing the Indian National Congress. A two-time World Championships bronze medalist, she is a former Asian champion, Asian Games gold medalist and a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist. Vinesh is the only Indian woman wrestler to have won gold at both the Asian and Commonwealth Games. She is a three-time Olympian, having represented India at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Olympics.

Early and personal life

Phogat was born on 25 August 1994 in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, India. She is the daughter of Rajpal Phogat and Premlata Phogat and hails from a family of wrestlers. Her sister Priyanka Phogat and cousins Geeta Phogat, Ritu Phogat and Babita Kumari are all wrestlers. She was trained by her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat.

During the early years, Phogat's father and uncle had to deal with opposition from the community in their village to help her and her cousins pursue competitive wrestling as they were judged to be going against the morals and values of their community. When she was nine years old, her father was shot dead in front of their house by a relative of her family.

On 13 December 2018, she married fellow wrestler Somvir Rathee from Jind. Both of them worked for the Indian Railways and have known each other since 2011.

Sports career

Early career (2013–2016)

At the 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships held in Delhi, Phogat won the bronze medal in the women's freestyle 51 kg category. She defeated Nanami Irie of Japan in the initial bout before she lost to Tatyana Amanzhol of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. In the repechage rounds, Tho-Kaew Sriprapa of Thailand to win the bronze medal. In the subsequent Commonwealth Wrestling Championships held in Johannesburg, South Africa, she won the silver medal in the 51 kg category after she lost to Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria in the final. In her first Commonwealth Games in 2014, she competed in the 48 kg category. She defeated Rosemary Nweke of Nigeria in the quarterfinals and Jasmine Mian of Canada in the semi-finals. In the gold medal bout, she defeated Yana Rattigan of England by a score of 3-1 and won her first gold medal at the Games.

Phogat won a bronze medal in the 48 kg category at the 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea. She defeated Yongmi of North Korea in the first round before she overcame Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals. She lost to Eri Tosaka of Japan in the semi-finals by a scoreline of 1–3. She won the bronze medal after she beat Narangerel Eredenesukh of Mongolia by technical superiority in the repechage bout. She won the silver medal in the 2015 Asian Championships held at Doha, Qatar after she was unable to beat Yuki Irie of Japan in the finals.

Injury and comeback (2016–2020)

In April 2016, Phogat was slated to compete at the 2016 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament 1 held at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in a bid to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. But, she was disqualified from the competition as she was found to be 100 grams above the weight category and was let off with a warning. Subsequently, Phogat qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics at the 2016 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament 2 event held in Istanbul, where she beat Polish wrestler Iwona Matkowska in the final. She competed in the 48 kg category at her first Olympics in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. She won the round of 16 bout against Alina Vuc of Romania easily by technical superiority. During the quarterfinal bout against Sun Yanan of China, she retired after she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during the match.

Phogat made a comeback and participated in the 50 kg category in her second Commonwealth Games in 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia. In the event which was held in round-robin format, she won all her matches to secure her second gold medal across the Commonwealth Games. In the subsequent 2018 Asian Games at Jakarta, she competed in the 50 kg category. She avenged her loss against Sun Yanan of China in the round of 16 before she beat Kim Hyung-joo of South Korea in the quarterfinals and Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. In the finals, she beat Japan's Yuki Irie to win the gold medal. She became first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. In the 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships, she won a bronze medal by defeating Qianyu Pang of China. In the subsequent 2019 Yasar Dogu Tournament, Phogat won the gold medal by defeating Ekaterina Poleshchuk of Russia in the final.

In the 2019 World Wrestling Championships, she won the bronze medal in the 53 kg category after she defeated Maria Prevolaraki in the bronze medal match. She also became the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by virtue of her top six finish in the tournament. In January 2020, she won the gold medal in the Rome Ranking Series after she defeated Luisa Valverde in the finals. Phogat was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019 and was the first Indian to get a nomination for the award.

Later career (2021–present)

Phogat defeated the 2017 World Champion Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus to win the gold medal at the Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial tournament held in Kyiv in February 2021. She also won the gold medal at the 2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event to become the world number one in her weight category. In June 2021, she won the gold medal in the 53 kg category in the Poland Open wrestling tournament in Warsaw after defeating Ukraine's Khrystyna Bereza in the final.

In August 2021, she headed to compete in the women's 53 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics as the world number one. Though she defeated Sofia Mattsson of Sweden in the first round, she was beaten by Belarusian Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the quarterfinals. Soon after the Olympics, she was suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for indiscipline citing that she had refused to train with her Indian teammates at the Olympics Village and had not worn the official Indian kit at the Olympics. As WFI expressed its disapproval of private partners, she issued an apology on the matter. In November 2021, WFI prevented private NGOs from signing contracts with and training wrestlers without its approval, leading to Phogat losing her private contract with JSW Sports.

In the women's 53 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, she bagged the gold medal after she won all her bouts. In the 53 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, she won her second World Championship bronze medal. She lost her first round bout against Batkhuyagiin Khulan of Mongolia, but won three straight games in the repechage rounds to win the bronze.

As Antim Panghal had secured an Olympic quota in the 53 kg weight class, Phogat competed in the lower 50 kg weight class at the 2024 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and earned a quota place for the 50 kg category in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the first round of the Paris Olympics, she defeated reigning Olympic and world champion Yui Susaki of Japan, who had not conceded a single point to an opponent in the Tokyo Olympics. The match was a cagey affair with Susaki leading 2–0 through two penalty points until the final few seconds when the Indian effected a takedown and scored an upset win. Phogat beat Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the quarterfinals and Yusneylys Guzmán of Cuba in the semifinals by point decisions to qualify for the final. However, Phogat was later disqualified for being above the stipulated weight during the weigh-in on the morning of the finals. As a result, she was relegated to last place in the classification.

After her disqualification, Phogat announced that she had appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). She had demanded that she be awarded the joint silver medal in the event as she was within the legal weight limits during the first day of the bout. She also announced her retirement from the sport with immediate effect. In a short verdict, the CAS dismissed the petition requesting a joint silver medal.

In December 2025, Phogat announced her return to competitive wrestling with the goal of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, nearly 18 months after retiring following the 2024 Paris Olympics. Announcing her comeback, Phogat stated that time away from the sport helped her rediscover her passion for wrestling.