Growing up in Balali, a small village some 100 kilometres from Delhi, Vinesh Phogat could scarcely have imagined that she would one day be on the world stage. The third child of a bus driver, she has had a life plagued with struggles. Her father was killed when she was just a child. Her mother fought cancer soon after. Ms. Phogat would have her own very public battles herself — both on the mat and off it.
As a wrestler trained by her uncle Mahavir Phogat, she was once considered just one among the Phogat wrestling family — an understudy to cousins Geeta and Babita — before she eventually carved her own niche as one of India’s greatest wrestlers. She has won two medals at the World Championships, three Commonwealth golds, and an Asian Games gold, a feat unaccomplished by any woman. Perhaps her most significant battle was fought on the streets of New Delhi where she, alongside wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, took on the Wrestling Federation of India and its president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing the latter of sexual exploitation. It was a battle not just for herself but for the security of women sportspersons across the country.
She pursued her battle with the federation even as she competed in a record third Olympic Games in Paris. And while her march to a title fell short by the narrowest and cruellest of margins, no one can say that in the end, Vinesh Phogat has not emerged a winner.
Photo:
ANI
Taken down: Vinesh wears a dejected look after being disqualified from the 50kg women’s wrestling at the Paris Olympics for being 100 grams overweightTaken down: Vinesh wears a dejected look after being disqualified from the 50kg women’s wrestling at the Paris Olympics for being 100 grams overweight.
Photo:
Reuters
Moments of glory: Vinesh reacts after winning the semi-final against Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba at the Paris Olympics on August 6, 2024.
Photo:
R.V. Moorthy
Through the pain: An injured Vinesh arrives in a wheelchair to receive the Arjuna Award from then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2016.
Photo:
Reuters
Fallen warrior: Vinesh being stretchered off after sustaining an injury during the quarterfinal bout against Sun Yanan of China during the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Photo:
Sushil Kumar Verma
Travails off the mat: Vinesh and fellow wrestler Sangeeta Phogat struggle after being detained by security personnel near the Wrestling Federation of India chief’s residence in New Delhi during a protest in New Delhi on May 28, 2023.
Photo:
PTI
Hero’s homecoming: Vinesh being welcomed on her arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi after the Paris Olympics.
Photo:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
Warm welcome: Vinesh received accolades from celebrities and fans upon her return to India.
Photo:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
Inspiring figure: A banner of Vinesh on display at her hometown at Balali in Haryana.
Photo:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
Tears flow: Vinesh gets emotional with her mother, and wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia upon her arrival at the airport in New Delhi.
Photo:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
People’s champion: Vinesh has said that she is ‘grateful to the people of the country’ for the warm welcome and blessings given to her after the Paris Olympics
