Vinesh Phogat facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Vinesh Phogat

Phogat in August 2022
Personal information
Born	(1994-08-25) 25 August 1994 (age 30) Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, India
Height	159cm
Weight	50 kg
Spouse(s)	Somvir Rathee ​ (m. 2018)​
Sport
Country	India
Sport	Freestyle wrestling
Event(s)	48 kg/50 kg/53 kg
Coached by	Mahavir Singh Phogat Woller Akos
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking	1
Medal record Women's Freestyle Wrestling Representing  India Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships - - 2 Asian Games 1 - 1 Commonwealth Games 3 - - Asian Championships 1 3 4 World Championships Bronze 2022 Belgrade 53 kg Bronze 2019 Nur-Sultan 53 kg Asian Games Gold 2018 Jakarta 50 kg Bronze 2014 Incheon 48 kg Commonwealth Games Gold 2014 Glasgow 48 kg Gold 2018 Gold Coast 50 kg Gold 2022 Birmingham 53 kg Asian Championships Gold 2021 Almaty 53 kg Silver 2015 Doha 48 kg Silver 2017 New Delhi 55 kg Silver 2018 Bishkek 50 kg Bronze 2013 New Delhi 51 kg Bronze 2016 Bangkok 53 kg Bronze 2019 Xi'an 53 kg Bronze 2020 New Delhi 53 kg Youth Wrestling Championship Silver 2013 Johannesburg 51 kg
Updated on 20 August 2018.

Vinesh Phogat (born 25 August 1994) is an Indian professional freestyle wrestler. She is a multiple Commonwealth Games gold medalist, having won golds at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Games. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth and Asian Games after she won the gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games. She has also won two bronze medals at the World Wrestling Championships.

She is a three time Olympian, having competed in three different weight classes - 48 kg in 2016, 53 kg in 2020 and 50 kg in 2024. In the 2024 Summer Olympics, she became the first international wrestler to defeat the then reigning Olympic champion Yui Susaki on the way to becoming the first Indian female wrestler to reach an Olympic final. However, she was later disqualified for being above the stipulated weight during the weigh-in on the morning of the finals and therefore became ineligible for the medals.

Phogat was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019 and was the first Indian to get a nomination for the award.

Early and personal life

Vinesh was born on 25 August 1994 in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana. She is the daughter of Rajpal 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, her father and her uncle had to deal with opposition from the community in their village to help Vinesh and her cousins pursue competitive wrestling as they were judged to be going against the morals and values of their community.

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.

Career

Early career (2013-2016)

At the 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships held in New Delhi, Vinesh 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.

Vinesh 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 the qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Istanbul, Vinesh won an Olympic quota after 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 a anterior cruciate ligament injury during the match.

Vinesh 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, Vinesh 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.

Further wins and later (2021-present)

Vinesh 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.

Vinesh competed at the 2024 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and earned a quota place for the 50 kg category in the 2024 Summer 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.

Record against select opponents

Weight Opponent Matches Won Lost Net 53 kg Pak Yong-mi 3 3 0 +3 53 kg Mayu Mukaida 3 0 3 –3 53 kg Pang Qianyu 4 2 2 0 53 kg Lannuan Luo 1 1 0 +1 55 kg Zhang Qi 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Maria Prevolaraki 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Sofia Mattsson 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Nina Hemmer 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Iryna Husyak 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Yuliya Khalvadzhy 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Aktenge Keunimjaeva 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Tatyana Amanzhol 2 1 1 0 53 kg Sarah Hildebrandt 2 2 0 +2 53 kg Vanesa Kaladzinskaya 2 1 1 0 53 kg Zhuldyz Eshimova 1 1 1 0 53 kg Jessica Blaszka 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Luisa Valverde 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Jo Cin Chiu 1 1 0 +1 53 kg Natalia Malysheva 2 1 1 0 53 kg Amy Fearnside 2 0 0 +2 53 kg Ekaterina Poleshchuk 2 2 0 +2

Weight Opponent Matches Won Lost Net 48 kg Yuki Irie 3 2 1 +1 48 kg Eri Tosaka 2 0 2 –2 48 kg Nanami Irie 3 1 2 –1 48 kg Erdenesukh Narangerel 2 1 1 0 48 kg Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova 4 4 0 +4 48 kg Byambazaya Tsogtbaatar 2 2 0 +2 48 kg Lee yo-mi 2 1 1 0 48 kg Kim Hyung-joo 2 2 0 +2 48 kg Iwona Matkowska 1 1 0 +1 48 kg Evin Demirhan 1 1 0 +1 48 kg Oksana Livach 1 1 0 +1 48 kg Alina Vuc 1 1 0 +1 48 kg Nataliya Pulkovska 1 1 0 +1 48 kg Victoria Anthony 1 0 1 -1 48 kg Chun Lei 1 0 1 -1 48 kg Kim Hyon-gyong 1 0 1 -1

Achievements

Legend

• W – Win; L – Loss;
• F – Victory by fall
• R - Retired

Summer Olympic Games

Year	Venue	Event	Opponent	Score	Round	Rank
2016	Rio de Janeiro	48 kg	Sun Yanan (CHN)	L 1R-2	Quarterfinal	10
2020	Tokyo	53 kg	Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (BLR)	L 3–9F	Quarterfinal	9
2024	Paris	50 kg	Sarah Hildebrandt (USA)	DQ	Final	16

World Championships

Year	Venue	Event	Opponent	Score	Round	Rank
2013	Budapest	51 kg	Isabelle Sambou (SEN)	L 3-6	Round of 16	10
2015	Las Vegas	48 kg	Kim Hyon-gyong (PRK)	L 4-8	Round of 32	22
2017	Paris	48 kg	Victoria Anthony (USA)	L 4-6F	Round of 16	10
2019	Nur-Sultan	53 kg	Maria Prevolaraki (GRE)	W 4-1	Repechage
2022	Belgrade	53 kg	Jonna Malmgren (SWE)	W 8-0	Repechage

Asian Games

Year	Venue	Event	Opponent	Score	Round	Rank
2014	Incheon	48 kg	Eri Tosaka (JPN)	L 4-6	Repechage
2018	Jakarta	50 kg	Yuki Irie (JPN)	W 6-2	Final

Commonwealth Games

Year	Venue	Event	Opponent	Score	Round	Rank
2014	Glasgow	48 kg	Yana Rattigan (ENG)	W 11-8	Final
2018	Gold Coast	50 kg	Jessica MacDonald (CAN)	W 13-3	Round-robin
2022	Birmingham	53 kg	Samantha Stewart (CAN)	W 2-0	Round-robin

Asian Wrestling Championships

Year	Venue	Event	Opponent	Result	Round	Rank
2014	New Delhi	51 kg	Tho-Kaew Sriprapa (THA)	W 4-2	Repechage
2015	Doha	48 kg	Yuki Irie (JPN)	L 2-3	Final
2016	Bangkok	53 kg	Pak Yong-mi (PRK)	W 9F-4	Repechage
2017	New Delhi	55 kg	Sae Nanjo (JPN)	L 4-8	Final
2018	Bishkek	50 kg	Lei Chun (CHN)	L 2-3	Final
2019	Xi'an	53 kg	Pang Qianyu (CHN)	W 8-1	Repechage
2020	New Delhi	53 kg	Kiều Thị Ly (VIE)	W 10-0	Repechage
2021	Almaty	53 kg	Meng Hsuan (TPE)	W 6F-0	Finals

Honors

Vinesh was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2016. In 2018, She was nominated for Padma Shri by the Sports Authority of India. She was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019 and was the first Indian to get a nomination for the award. In 2020, she was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honor.She was also nominaed for the BBC Indian Sportswoman of The Year award for 2022.

See also

In Spanish: Vinesh Phogat para niños