A paver and inspiration in wrestling, Vinesh Phogat may have missed a medal at the Olympics, but she has won on all fronts because of her pure determination as well as a spirit that never dies which represent her true warrior nature.
Another heartbreaking news came from Paris on Wednesday when it was announced that Indian wrestler had been disqualified for weighing 100 grams more than the limit before going for their gold medal match against American wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt
On Thursday morning we woke up to yet another sad news of the retirement and this time around it was Vinesh announcing her imminent departure from the sport by writing on her official X handle.
Vinesh: “Wrestling has won, Ma. I lost. Mother please forgive me. My courage and your dreams are broken into pieces. I have no more strength left.” Wrestling 2001-2024 Goodbye. “Thank you Everyone”. Pardon (me).
However, Mahavir Phogat who is also Vinesh’s uncle cum mentor together with Bajrang Punia and his other two sisters will be working things out so that she drops the idea of quitting.
Dangal released in 2016 is based on a family of wrestlers who defied all odds and societal norms by training their daughters to take part in wrestling competitions despite coming from a male dominated society in Haryana state.
Subsequently, they shifted to Charkhi Dadri in Haryana where his father Rajpal Singh was allegedly killed by one mentally ill member of their family right outside their home when Vinesh was only nine years old though people believe he might have been shot.
At 32 years old Premlata didn’t just bring up not only Vinesh but also an elder brother, sister and fought off life threatening illnesses like cancer.
He took upon himself the duty to coach both Priyanka and Vinesh apart from Geeta, Babita, Ritu and Sangita- Mahavir Singh Phogat a legendary coach of amateur wrestling who has personally trained his daughters to become champions in the sport.
The country’s Government bestowed the prestigious Dronacharya Award upon this amateur wrestler and Olympics senior coach in 2016.
He was determined to train them despite social stereotypes, old fashioned norms and hurdles faced by them since they were girls participating in a male-dominated sport; he taught them about exercise importance as well as wrestling skills.
Geeta Phogat is an Indian woman wrestler whose victory at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi (2010) made her the first Indian female wrestler to win. The world knows Geeta Phogat for winning a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 55 kg at 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi putting India on the World Map.
It should be remembered that Geeta managed to get a bronze medal at Canada’s World Wrestling Championships two years later and also qualified for London’s Olympics though she did not go beyond quarterfinals.
Achievements:
- Commonwealth Games 2010: Gold medal (55 kg category).
- World Wrestling Championships 2012: Bronze medal
- Asian Wrestling Championships: Bronze medals in 2012 and 2015
Babita Kumari represents India as an international freestyle wrestler with numerous national titles.
At these games she performed exceptionally well winning herself a silver medal while competing under the banner of India for women’s Freestyle Wrestler amongst others representing many countries across globe which include Canada, USA among others.
Babita added gold to her medals’ bank when she competed at Glasgow during official Commonwealth Games competition. Where she triumphed over all her rivals from different nations in less than fifty five kilograms weight category.
She got another bronze during 2012 World Wrestling Championship and several other prizes from various worldwide stages.
Achievements:
- Commonwealth Games 2010: Silver medal in the 51 kg category.
- World Wrestling Championships 2012: Bronze medal.
- Commonwealth Games 2014: Gold medal in the 55 kg category.
- Asian Wrestling Championships: Bronze in 2013 and 2019.
- Commonwealth Games 2018: Silver medal in the 53 kg category.”
Ritu Phogat took up wrestling as a result of following her sisters, Geeta and Babita. She claimed gold in the women’s freestyle wrestling at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship held in Singapore. Ritu also secured a silver medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships. Followed by a bronze at World Championships U-23 in Poland, thereby announcing her arrival on the global stage for wrestlers.”
In the year of our Lord 2019 Ritu Phogat changed careers, transitioning from wrestling to mixed martial arts (MMA). And then she signed with ONE Championship, one of Asia’s largest MMA organizations, to pursue her new career. Her professional debut was made last November; since then there have been some additional fights. And she is now known for being skilled and determined when it comes to this new sport.”
Achievements in MMA:
- Ritu has showed her excellent grappling skills as well as good wrestling abilities that are mostly utilized by herself during MMA battles.
- Ritu has won several fights in ONE Championship which propelled her to become one of the top contenders at atomweight.
Sangita Phogat like elder sister took up wrestling and participated in various national & international tournaments where Sangita honed her skills giving an excellent account of herslef.”
Achievements:
- Sangita has won multiple medals at national-level competitions thus proving that she can be considered a future wrestler.”
- She continues working hard on international wrestling scene with aspirations similar to those of other sisters.”
Bajrang Punia is married to Sangita who happens to be India’s leading female wrestler. Bajrang is a seasoned professional with multiple international medals in his name. These include the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Olympics and World Wrestling Championships among others.”
Priyanka Phogat, Vinesh’s sister became interested in wrestling because of her cousins as a child and now competes in this same freestyle category”
Achievements:
- Asian Wrestling Championships: Silver medal in the 2016 edition, held in Bangkok, Thailand, in the 55 kg category.
- National Championships: Multiple medals at national-level competitions that have made her known street as a successful sportswoman.”
- International Competitions: Participation at numerous international wrestling events which has thus added to the wealth of experiences she has gotten.
It was indeed this family lineage that moulded Vinesh Phogat into an accomplished wrestler with significant accomplishments globally.”
Achievements:
- Commonwealth Games: Gold medals in the 2014 Glasgow and 2018 Gold Coast editions.
- Asian Games: Gold medal in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang edition.
- World Wrestling Championships: Bronze medal in the 2019 edition.
- Asian Wrestling Championships: Multiple medals including gold silver and bronze across various editions.”
Vinesh qualified for Rio (2016) Olympics after making it through earlier this year. However, during her last match she was dealt a painful blow by a severe knee injury. Again In Tokyo too her campaign ended when she lost to the quart-final.”
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