Vinesh Phogat (; born 25 August 1994) is an Indian freestyle wrestler and politician from Haryana. She currently serves as a member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly for Julana constituency, representing the Indian National Congress.
Phogat hails from a family of wrestlers with her sister Priyanka Phogat and several of her cousins also competing in wrestling events. She is trained by her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat. She is employed by the Indian Railways. In 2018, she married fellow wrestler Somvir Rathee.
Phogat is a two-time World Championships bronze medalist. She has won a gold and a bronze medal at the Asian Games, and eight medals including a gold, three silver, and four bronze in the Asian Championships. She is also a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, and is the only Indian woman wrestler to have won gold at both the Asian and Commonwealth Games. She represented India at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Summer Olympics. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she reached the final of 50 kg event, before being disqualified for being above the stipulated weight.
Phogat was part of the 2023 Indian wrestlers' protest against the Wrestling Federation of India and its president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. She also joined the 2024 Indian farmers' protest demanding a minimum price guarantee for their agricultural produce. She joined the Congress party on 6 September 2024 before contesting in the 2024 Haryana Legislative Assembly election held on 5 October.
Early and personal life
Vinesh Phogat was born on 25 August 1994 in Charkhi Dadri district, 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 also compete in wrestling events. She is trained by her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat.
During her early years, Phogat's father and uncle faced opposition from members of their village for supporting her and her cousins in pursuing competitive wrestling, as they were seen as going against the traditional 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 due to a domestic dispute.
On 13 December 2018, Phogat 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) Phogat won her first international medal in the women's freestyle 51 kg category at the 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi. She defeated Nanami Irie of Japan in the initial bout before losing to Tatyana Amanzhol of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. In the repechage rounds, she beat Tho-Kaew Sriprapa of Thailand to win the bronze medal. In the 2013 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships held in Johannesburg, 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 appearance in 2014 at Glasgow, 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 Pak 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 and later won the bronze medal after beating Narangerel Eredenesukh of Mongolia by technical superiority in the repechage bout. She won the silver medal in the 2015 Asian Championships held at Doha after losing to 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 at Ulaanbaatar in a bid to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, she was disqualified from the competition after she was found to be above the stipulated weight and was let off with a warning. Subsequently, Phogat qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics at the 2016 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament 2 held in Istanbul, 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. At the Olympics, she won the round of 16 bout against Alina Vuc of Romania by technical superiority. During the quarterfinal bout against Sun Yanan of China, she retired midway through the match after she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during the match.
Phogat returned to international competition at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. In the 50 kg category, which was held in round-robin format, she won all her matches to secure her second gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. At the 2018 Asian Games at Jakarta, she competed in the 50 kg category. She defeated Sun Yanan of China in the round of 16 before beating Kim Hyung-joo of South Korea in the quarterfinals and Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. In the finals, she defeated Japan's Yuki Irie to win the gold medal and thus became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
In the 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships, Phogat won a bronze medal in the 53 kg category after defeating Qianyu Pang of China. In the 2019 Yasar Dogu Tournament, she won the gold medal after 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 wrestling events at the 2020 Summer Olympics by virtue of her top six finish in the tournament. In January 2020, she won the gold medal in the Rome Ranking Series event after she defeated Luisa Valverde in the finals.
Later career and retirement (2021–2024) 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. In March 2021, she won the gold medal at the 2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event to become the world number one in the 53 kg 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, Phogat was seeded first in the women's 53 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Though she defeated Sofia Mattsson of Sweden in the first round, she was beaten by Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus in the quarterfinals. After the Olympics, she was suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for indiscipline, on charges that she had refused to train with her Indian teammates in the Olympic Village and had not worn the official Indian kit during the Games. She later apologised to the WFI for the incident. As a consequence, in November 2021, the WFI barred private organisations from signing contracts with or training wrestlers without its approval, resulting in Phogat losing her private contract with JSW Sports.
In the women's 53kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Phogat won her third consecutive gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. In the 53kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships 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 the quota in the 53 kg weight class for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Phogat competed in the lower 50 kg weight class at the 2024 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bishkek, and earned a Olympic quota place.
In the opening round of the women's 50 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics at Paris, she defeated Japan's reigning Olympic and world champion Yui Susaki, who had never previously lost an international bout and had won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics without conceding a single point to an opponent. 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. She 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, she was later disqualified after exceeding the stipulated weight limit during the weigh-in on the morning of the final, and was relegated to last place in the classification. The following day, she announced her immediate retirement from the sport. India filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport requesting that Phogat be awarded a joint silver medal, but the appeal was dismissed on 15 August.
Comeback (2025–present) In December 2025, Phogat announced her return to competitive wrestling with the goal of qualifying for the 2028 Summer Olympics, nearly 18 months after retiring from the sport. In announcing her comeback, she said that her time away from wrestling had helped her rediscover her passion for the sport.
Socio-political activism 2023 protests against Wrestling Federation of India
In January 2023, Phogat, along with more than 30 Indian wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Anshu Malik, organised a protest demanding the dissolution of the WFI and action against its president, Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, following allegations that coaches associated with the federation had sexually harassed female wrestlers for years. The wrestlers dropped their protests after the Government of India agreed to form an oversight committee to look into the claims. In April 2023, the wrestlers resumed their protests, claiming that the government had failed to honour its commitments. During the protests, Phogat said that she had informed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur about alleged mental harassment, torture, and threats to her life following her complaint and accusations against Bhushan.
After a month of protest, the Sports Ministry instructed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in May to suspend the WFI and to set up an ad-hoc panel to oversee the functions of Indian wrestling. The panel was also tasked with holding fresh elections for the appointment of a new WFI chief within 45 days. On 28 May 2023, Phogat and the other protesting wrestlers were detained by the Delhi Police when they tried to march towards the Parliament of India demanding the arrest of Brijbhushan Singh. In August 2023, United World Wrestling suspended WFI's membership due to its failure to organise elections for the post of WFI chief, which restricted India's ability to field wrestlers under the Indian flag in international wrestling events.
The election for the WFI president and 14 other posts was held on 21 December 2023. Sanjay Singh, an aide of Brijbhushan Singh, was elected president, while candidates associated with Brijbhushan Singh won 13 of the 15 posts. After Phogat and the wrestlers expressed their outrage on the election results, The Sports Ministry suspended the newly elected WFI body led by Sanjay Singh on 24 December 2023, citing its disregard for established policies and procedures. However, in March 2024, the IOA restored Sanjay Singh, allowing him to assume full charge of the WFI. The decision was challenged in the Delhi High Court by Phogat and the other protesting wrestlers, and on 16 August, the court asked the IOA to put its ad-hoc committee back in charge of the WFI until the central government lifted the suspension on it.
2024 farmers' protests