Vinesh Phogat is the first women’s wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian and Commonwealth Games, but a medal has eluded her at the Olympics. The 29-year-old is set to compete in her third straight Olympic Games in the year 2024, with high expectations from the Indian wrestling community, wanting her to step on the podium for the first time at the Olympics in Paris.
In the past year or so, Vinesh Phogat has gone through a lot in her personal and professional life, protesting against the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President, Braj Bhushan Sharan Singh, levelling accusations of sexual assault on him. Amidst the hate campaign against her and the fellow Indian wrestlers, she also had to get through yet another knee injury.
The career-threatening knee injury happened for the first time in Vinesh Phogat’s career during her tough defeat in the quarter-final of the Rio 2016 against Sun Yanan of China. After making a recovery through lots of trials and tribulations, she made it to the quarter-final of the Tokyo 2020, suffering a loss against Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus.
During the Asian Olympic Qualifiers this past April, the first tournament for Vinesh Phogat after the World Championships 2022, she defeated three opponents to win a Paris 2024 quota in the women’s 50kg category. Apart from Vinesh Phogat, there are five more Indian wrestlers, who will be competing at the Olympic Games later this month, aiming to win medals for the first time in their careers as well.
The challenge for Vinesh Phogat will be quite tough at Paris 2024, starting with the major requirement of making the weight cut at 50kg, to be able to take the mat. Following this, she is slated to face highly accomplished opponents right through the competition, but her ability to fight back in face of adversity could keep her in good stead at the upcoming Olympic Games.