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Vinesh Phogat has made a remarkable comeback. (Getty Images)
Vinesh Phogat, who has battled adversities throughout her career including a host of injuries, at one stage wasn’t sure if she will ever return to wrestling.
Vinesh Phogat is on the verge of immortality. Hailing from a family of celebrated wrestlers, Vinesh has a chance at going one step further and become not just the first ever Indian wrestler but the first ever female from her country to win an Olympic gold.
The Career-threatening injury
She has come a long way from the painful memories of 2016 Rio when a knee injury – a career-threatening at that- forced her out from the quarterfinal bout of her 48kg event.
Also Read: Vinesh On the Brink of Creating History
However, two years later, in 2018 she made her competitive return after wondering if she will ever be able to wrestle again.
Tokyo Debacle
Vinesh was a medal hopeful for India at the Tokyo Olympics having moved up to the weight class of 53kg. She entered the multi-sport spectacle as the world no. 1 and top-seed in her class too.
Having made a strong start, Vinesh suffered a stunning defeat in the quarterfinal and her hopes of repechage round also vanquished when her conqueror failed to qualify for the final.
The Mental Break
The defeat took a heavy toll on Vinesh mentally and she took a break away from the sport itself and later revealing of not being sure if she will ever return to wrestling.
Indiscipline and Protest
In between, she was also suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India on grounds of indiscipline. However, she rediscovered her love for the game and is now representing India for a third time at the Olympics.
And last year, she was one of the three leading wrestlers to stage protests against the then WFI president Brij Bhushan who was accused of sexual harassment and intimidation.
More Injuries
Injuries kept chasing her though. A knee injury ruled her out from the Asian Games last year and she also pulled out of the Budapest Ranking Series due to food poisoning and fever.
The Comeback
At the 2024 National Wrestling Championships, Vinesh made her comeback with a gold medal winning performance in 55kg. She dropped down to the 50kg class at the Asian Olympic Games qualifier where she claimed an Olympic quota.
And she started her campaign with an stunning win over the hitherto unbeaten and reigning Olympic champion Yui Sasaki. She then went on to beat former Olympic bronze medallist Oksana Livach and then Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman to secure medal.
The 29-year-old is the first Indian woman wrestler to win Gold in both Commonwealth and Asian Games. She became the first Indian athlete to be nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019.
At the world championship 2019, she bagged her maiden world championship medal (Bronze).
She is the only Indian women wrestler to clinch Gold at Asian Games, which she managed in 2018 by defeating Yuki Irie of Japan in the finals.
Major Achievements
- 2022, 2019 Senior World Championship – Bronze
- 2018 Asian Games – Gold
- 2020, 2016 Senior Asian Championship – Bronze
- 2018, 2017, 2015 Senior Asian Championship – Silver
- 2022, 2018, 2014 Commonwealth Games – Gold
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