Vinesh Phogat (born 25 August 1994) is an Indian wrestler. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in both

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

. She is the only Indian woman wrestler to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships. Phogat became the first Indian athlete to be nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019. Phogat comes from a successful family of wrestlers, with her cousins and being international wrestlers and Commonwealth Games medalists as well.

Personal life and family

Vinesh is the daughter of wrestler Rajpal Phogat and cousin of wrestlers Geetha and Babita.The Powerhouse Phogat Siblings and their Cousin - Deeta, Babita and Vinesh
Femina. Both her cousins have won gold in 55 kg category in Commonwealth Games. In allowing her cousins and herself to pursue competitive wrestling, her father and uncle had to deal with immense pressure and opposition from the community in their village in Haryana. They were adjudged as going against the morals and values of their community. Her cousin, Ritu Phogat, too is an international level wrestler and has won a gold medal at the 2016

Commonwealth Wrestling Championship The Commonwealth Wrestling Championship is a tournament designed for top wrestlers in the Commonwealth of Nations. It is not linked to the Commonwealth Games, nor has any accreditation with any sports body in any country. Edizioni Łącznie meda ...

. On 13 December 2018, she married her long-time boyfriend and fellow wrestler Somvir Rathee of Bakhta Khera village of Jind district,
Pre-wedding festivities begin at Vinesh's village
The Tribune.
''Hindustan Times'' who is a two times gold medalist in the national championship.दंगल गर्ल विनेश फोगाट और सोमवीर राठी आज लेंगे सात फेरे
The couple knew each other since 2011 and both work for the Indian Railways where they met and fell in love.बारात लेकर बलाली पहुंचे पहलवान सोमवीर, विनेश के साथ लेंगे 7 फेरे
Dainik Bhaskar, 14 Dec 2918. She suffered a career-threatening anterior cruciate ligament tear in her knee at the Rio Olympics.

Career

In world championship 2019, she bagged her maiden world championship medal (Bronze). She bagged Gold in Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2018 came in the 50 kg category. In Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome, the 26 years old crushed Canada's Diana Mary Helen Weicker 4–0 in the 53 kg final.

2013 Asian Wrestling Championships

2013 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships were held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi, India. The event took place from 18 to 22 April 2013. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women' ...

in New Delhi, India, Vinesh won the bronze medal in the women's freestyle 52 kg category, winning 3:0 in the bronze medal bout through the repechage round to Tho-Kaew Sriprapa of Thailand. In the first round, Vinesh won 3:1 against Nanami Irie of Japan. She then lost 1:3 in the quarter-finals to

Tatyana Amanzhol Tatyana Akhmetova-Amanzhol (also Tatyana Bakatyuk, kk, Татьяна Аманжол; born 17 October 1985 in Alma-Ata) is an amateur Kazakh freestyle wrestler, who played for the women's flyweight category. In 2009, Bakatyuk won a gold medal f ...

of Kazakhstan who qualified for the final thus qualifying the Indian grappler for the repechage round.

2013 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships

In an exclusive tournament held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Vinesh finished second and won the silver medal in the women's freestyle 51 kg category, losing in the final round to

Odunayo Adekuoroye Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye (born 10 December 1993) is a Nigerian freestyle wrestler. She competed in the women's freestyle 53 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won the gold medal and at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships w ...

of Nigeria.

2014 Commonwealth Games

Vinesh represented India in the women's freestyle 48 kg category at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

in Glasgow, and won the gold medal. In the quarter-finals, Vinesh faced Rosemary Nweke of Nigeria and beat her 5–0. Her semi-finals opponent was Jasmine Mian of Canada whom she beat 4–1. In the gold medal bout, she faced home favourite Yana Rattigan of England and won the gold medal, beating her 3–1.

2014 Asian Games

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

, South Korea, Vinesh won the bronze medal in the women's freestyle 48 kg category. In the Round of 16, Vinesh faced Yongmi Pak from the People's Republic of Korea and beat her 3:1. Her quarter-finals opponent was Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan whom she overcame easily with a 5:0 scoreline. She lost 1:3 in the semi-finals to Eri Tosaka of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

but qualified for the bronze medal bout and beat Narangerel Eredenesukh of Mongolia to win 10-0 easily after referee stopped the bout (classification points 4:0).

2015–2017

At the 2015 Asian Championships in Doha, Phogat won the silver medal in her category after losing the final to Yuki Irie of Japan. In the qualifying tournament for the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

held in Istanbul, she won in the final round beating Polish wrestler Iwona Matkowska, and qualified for the Olympics in the process. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Vinesh reached the Quarter Finals and lost to Sun Yanan of China owing to a knee injury.

2018 Gold Coast CommonWealth Games

Vinesh Phogat won the gold medal in women's 50 kg freestyle wrestling at

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

in Gold Coast.

2018 Asian Games

Vinesh Phogat won the gold medal at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

and became first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in the

. Phogat beat Japan's

Yuki Irie is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. In 2018, she won the silver medal in the women's 50 kg event at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia. In the final, she lost against Vinesh Phogat of India. In 2015, she won the gold medal in the wom ...

in Women's 50 kg Freestyle Wrestling gold medal match 6–2.

2019 Asian Wrestling Championships

Vinesh won the bronze medal in

2019 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships was held in Xi'an, China. The event took place from April 23 to April 28, 2019. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle Participating nations ...

by defeating World Championships bronze medallist Qianyu Pang of China.

2019 Yasar Dogu International

Phogat won gold in the 2019 Yasar Dogu International by defeating Ekaterina Poleshchuk of Russia.

2019 Poland Open wrestling tournament

Vinesh Phogat bagged her third consecutive gold in women's 53 kg category after winning the Poland Open wrestling tournament in Warsaw.

2019 World Wrestling Championships

Vinesh Phogat bagged a maiden World Championship medal in the women's 53 kg category after pinning Maria Prevolaraki in the Bronze medal match. She became the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by virtue of her top six finish. 2020 season In January 2020, Phogat won gold in Rome Ranking Series, defeating Luisa Elizabeth Valverde (4-0). 2021 season

2021 Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial tournament

Vinesh Phogat defeated 2017 world champion Vanesa Kaladzinskay to win the gold medal in February 2021 at the tournament held in Kiev. Vinesh opened up a 4–0 lead in the 53 kg final with a throw which she initiated with a left-leg attack but Kaladzinskay made it 4–4 with her brilliant move. Vinesh took the break leading 6–4, adding to her score with a takedown, 10 seconds before the break. The Belarusian put pressure on the Indian with another four-point throw but with 25 seconds to go, Vinesh's move fetched her four more points for a 10–8 lead. She got into a position from where she pinned Kaladzinskay to ensure herself a gold. Since the coronavirus halted all competitions in 2020, it was the first competition for Vinesh in 2021, who is the only Indian woman wrestler to have qualified for the Tokyo Games.

2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event

Vinesh Phogat won her second gold medal in as many weeks with a dominant win in the event and reclaimed the top rank in the her category. Vinesh blanked Canada's Diana Mary Helen Weicker 4-0 where she scored all her points in the first period and held on to her lead in the second to ensure a top-of-the-podium finish. The Indian had entered the event as world number three but is back to world number one by jumping 14 points. The Canadian was ranked as low as 40 before the tournament but is now just behind Vinesh at number two. Vinesh did not concede a single point at this tournament, winning two of her three bouts by pinning her rivals while getting injury walkouts in the other two in the eight-woman field.

2021 Poland Open wrestling tournament

Vinesh Phogat won the gold medal in the women's 53 kg event at the 2021 Poland Open. She competed in the women's 53 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

2022

She won the gold medal in the women's 53 kg event at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

held in Birmingham, England. She won one of the bronze medals in the 53 kg event at the

2022 World Wrestling Championships The 2022 World Wrestling Championships was the 17th edition of the World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held between 10 and 18 September 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. The UWW Bureau approved the candidature of Belgrade, Serbia ...

held in Belgrade, Serbia.

Record against opponents

International Competition

Summer Olympic Games

World Championship

Asian Games

{, Class="wikitable sortable" , - !Year !Competition !Venue !Event !Rank !Opponent !Result , - , 2018 ,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

50kg 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

, , , Win-06=02 , - , 2014 ,

, 48kg , , {{flagathlete, Eri Tosaka, (JPN), Erdenesükhiin Narangerel, (MGL) , Lose-04=06, Win-10=0

Commonwealth Games

{, Class="wikitable sortable" , - !Year !Competition !Venue !Event !Rank !Opponent !Result , - , 2022 ,

, Birmingham , 53kg , {{Gold01 , {{flagathlete, Samantha Stewart, CAN , Win 2-0 (VFA) , - , 2018 ,

, Gold Coast ,

, {{Gold01 , {{flagathlete,

Jessica MacDonald Jessica MacDonald (born July 12, 1985; née Bondy) is a wrestler from Canada. She began wrestling for Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada i ...

, CAN , Win-13=03 , - , 2014 ,

, Glasgow , 48kg , {{Gold01 , {{flagathlete, Yana Rattigan, ENG , Win-11=08

Asian Wrestling Championship

{, Class="wikitable sortable" , - !Year !Competition !Venue !Event !Rank !Opponent !Result , - , 2021 ,

2021 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2021 Asian Wrestling Championships took place from 13 April to 18 April in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It was held at the same venue as the 2021 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. This event was the 34th edition of the Asian Wrestling C ...

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

, 53kg , {{Gold01 , {{flagathlete,

Meng Hsuan Meng may refer to: * Meng (surname) (孟), a Chinese surname * Master of Engineering (MEng or M.Eng.), an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering * , "M with hook", letter used in the International Phonetic Alphabet ...

, TPE , Win , - , 2020 ,

2020 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships was held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium, Indira Gandhi Arena, New Delhi in India. The event took place from 18 to 23 February. China was barred from entering into the competition due to the COVID-19 pandemi ...

, New Delhi , 53kg , {{bronze03 , {{flagathlete,

Mayu Mukaida is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. She won the gold medal in the 53 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. Career She competed at the 2014 Youth Summer Olympics, 2017 World Wrestling Championships, 2018 World Wrestling Ch ...

, JPN , Loss , - , 2019 ,

, Xi'an , 53kg , {{bronze03 , {{flagathlete,

, JPN , Loss , - , 2018 ,

2018 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2018 Asian Wrestling Championships took place at the Kojomkul Sports Palace, Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. The event took place from February 27 to March 4, 2018. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Wom ...

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

, {{Silver02 , {{flagathlete, Lei Chun, CHN , Loss , - , 2017 ,

2017 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2017 Asian Wrestling Championships was held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium, Indira Gandhi Arena, New Delhi in India. The event took place from 10 to 14 May 2017. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Ro ...

, New Delhi , 55kg , {{Silver02 , {{flagathlete, Sae Nanjo, JPN , Loss , - , 2016 ,

2016 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2016 Asian Wrestling Championships was held at the Thai-Japanese Stadium, Bangkok Youth Center in Bangkok, Thailand. The event took place from February 17 to February 21, 2016. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Me ...

, Bangkok , 53kg , {{bronze03 , {{flagathlete,

Pang Qianyu Pang Qianyu is a Chinese freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal in the 53kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She won a bronze medal in the women's 53kg event at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships and again in th ...

, CHN , Loss , - , 2015 ,

2015 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships was held at the Aspire Dome Volleyball Hall in Doha, Qatar. The event took place from May 6 to May 10, 2015. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freest ...

, Doha , 48kg , {{Silver02 , {{flagathlete,

, JPN , Loss , - , 2013 ,

, New Delhi , 51kg , {{bronze03 , {{flagathlete, Liu Haiping, CHN , Loss

Honors

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna The Khel Ratna Award (), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award ( Major Dhyan Chand Sport Jewel Award), is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Governm ...

- Highest sports honour in India, winner in 2020 . *

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

, winner in 2016.After Winning The Arjuna Award, Wrestler Vinesh Phogat Promises Nothing Less Than Gold In Tokyo 2020
''India Times'', Sept 2016 * Padma Shri, nominee in 2018 by the Sports Authority of India.Padma Shri proposed for Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat
''Times of India'', Oct 2018.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* {{sports links {{Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees {{Footer Asian Games Champions Wrestling Freestyle Flyweight Women {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Phogat, Vinesh Living people Indian female sport wrestlers Sportswomen from Haryana Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2014 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in wrestling 1994 births Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers of India Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Female sport wrestlers from Haryana Vinesh World Wrestling Championships medalists Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Wrestling Championships medalists Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics