Geeta Phogat (born 15 December 1988) is a freestyle wrestler who won India's first ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. She is also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the

Olympic Summer Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

Personal life and family

Geeta Phogat was born in

Balali Balali is a village in the Charkhi Dadri district of Haryana State, India. Notable personalities * Mahavir Singh Phogat, Dronacharya Awardee, father and mentor of the famous Phogat sisters — his four daughters Geeta, Babita, Ritu, and ...

village of Charkhi Dadri district,

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

. Her father Mahavir Singh Phogat, a former wrestler himself and a Dronacharya Award recipient, is also her coach. Her sister

Babita Kumari Babita Kumari Phogat (born 20 November 1989) is an Indian wrestler, who won the gold medal in 2014 Commonwealth Games. She also won silver medals at 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2010 Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal at the 2012 World Wres ...

and cousin Vinesh Phogat are also

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

gold medalists. Both won gold medals in their respective categories in 2014 edition of Commonwealth Games. Another younger sister of Geeta Phogat,

Ritu Phogat Ritu Kumari Phogat (born 2 May 1994) is an Indian mixed martial artist currently signed to ONE Championship. She is also a female wrestler who won a gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship. Early and personal life Ritu is ...

, too is an international level wrestler and has won a gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship. Her youngest sister,

Sangita Phogat The Phogat sisters are six sisters from Haryana, India, all of whom are wrestlers. In order of their birth, they are Geeta, Babita, Priyanka, Ritu, Vinesh, and Sangeeta. While Geeta, Babita, Ritu, and Sangeeta are daughters of former wrest ...

is also a wrestler. She married fellow wrestler Pawan Kumar on 20 November 2016. The couple had their first child, a boy, in December 2019.

Career

2009 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship

Phogat won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship held in

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

between 19 and 21 December 2009.

2010 Commonwealth Games

She won India’s first ever gold medal in women’s wrestling at the

held in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, beating Emily Bensted from Australia in the gold medal match with a score of 1-0, 7-0.

2012 Summer Olympics

Phogat won a gold medal in the Wrestling FILA Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament that concluded at Almaty,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

in April 2012. She has undergone rigorous training at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, (NSNIS),

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the '' Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

, under the guidance of chief coach O.P. Yadav and foreign expert Ryan Dobo. Phogat was beaten in her opening fight by Canadian

Tonya Verbeek Tonya Lynn Verbeek (born 14 August 1977) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler. Verbeek was the first woman to win a wrestling medal for Canada when she took silver in 2004, she added to that with a bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a second si ...

(1–3). She received a chance to win the bronze medal since the Canadian went to the finals. In the

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

round, she lost her first match to Lazareva from

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

2012 World Wrestling Championships

In the

2012 World Wrestling Championships The 2012 World Wrestling Championships was held at Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada. Traditionally, Wrestling World Championships are not held in Olympic years, but in 2012 a female championship was held because the Wrestling ...

held in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Phogat won the bronze medal. In the first round, Phogat faced Maria Gurova of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, beating her 3:1. The second round brought a 5:0 loss for Phogat against

Saori Yoshida is a Japanese former freestyle wrestler. Starting in 1998 she won almost every major competition, including three Olympic Games, four Asian Games, and 13 world championships, and became the most decorated athlete in freestyle wrestling history. ...

of Japan. With the Japanese grappler making the finals, Phogat contested in the repechage round, first against Akziya Dautbayeva of

whom she beat 3:1 and then winning the bronze medal bout 3:0 against Natalya Sinishin of

2012 Asian Wrestling Championships

In the first round of the 2012 Asian Wrestling Championships, Phogat lost to her Japanese opponent Kanako Murata in a 5:0 scoreline. With the Japanese grappler entering the finals, Phogat was able to contest in the bronze medal round and won the bronze medal in the 55 kg beating Sumiya Erdenechimeg from

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

3:1.

2013 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships

At the tournament held in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, South Africa, Phogat finished second and won the silver medal in the women's freestyle 59 kg category after losing the final bout to Oluwafunmilayo Adeniyi of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

2015 Asian Wrestling Championships

At the

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 frees ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

, Phogat finished third, winning the bronze medal in the freestyle 58 kg category along with Aiym Abdildina of Kazakhstan. At the 2015 World Championships in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, she was drawn against nine-time world Champion, the Japanese Kaori Icho, and lost to her in the opening round 0–10. With Icho qualifying for the finals, Phogat was given a chance to contest in the repechage for the bronze medal. She again lost 0–10 to her opponent, Elif Jale Yeşilırmak of Turkey.

Popular culture

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

's film '' Dangal'' is loosely based on Geeta Phogat and her sister's lives. Her role in the movie is played by Fatima Sana Shaikh and her younger self is played by Zaira Wasim. Wrestler

Pooja Dhanda Pooja Dhanda (born 1 January 1994) is an Indian wrestler from Budana village of Hisar district in Haryana,

was screened and selected to play the role of Babita Phogat in this movie, which she could not play due to an injury, and later she went on to defeat senior Phogat sister Geeta Phogat in the real life national championship.Once a judoka, Pooja Dhanda wants to win laurels in wrestling

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

, 25 February 2018.

Other titles

* Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament, 2013 – Silver * Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament, 2014 – Bronze

References

External links

* *
Geeta Phogat
in Rediff.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Phogat, Geeta Indian female sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Sportswomen from Haryana People from Bhiwani Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers of India Recipients of the Arjuna Award 1988 births Wrestlers at the 2010 Asian Games World Wrestling Championships medalists Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Living people Female sport wrestlers from Haryana Geeta Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi participants Asian Games competitors for India Asian Wrestling Championships medalists