# Vinesh Phogat

Vinesh Phogat (pronounced; born 25 August 1994) is an Indian politician and former wrestler, who is a current member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Haryana. She won the 2024 assembly election from Julana constituency representing the Indian National Congress. Previously as a wrestler, she was a multiple-gold medalist of Commonwealth Games, with her wins in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
In her wrestling career, Phogat achieved a milestone when she won the gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games and became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. She has also won two bronze medals at the World Wrestling Championships. She is a three-time Olympian, having competed in three different weight classes: 48 kg in 2016, 53 kg in 2020, and 50 kg in 2024. In the 2024 Summer Olympics, she became the first Indian female wrestler to reach an Olympic final. However, she was disqualified after exceeding the stipulated weight by 100 grams (3.5 oz) on the second day of her event. After her disqualification, she announced her retirement.
In 2023, she was part of the 2023 Indian wrestlers' protest against then president of Wrestling Federation of India and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment by several female wrestlers. In 2024, she supported the farmer's protest at Shambhu border, and was honoured by the farmer union leaders. She is also the first one to win Khap Panchayat Gold Medal.

## Early and personal life

Phogat was born on 25 August 1994 in Charkhi Dadri, 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 are all wrestlers. She was trained by her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat.
During the early years, Phogat's father and uncle had to deal with opposition from the community in their village to help her and her cousins pursue competitive wrestling as they were judged to be going against the 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 of her family.
On 13 December 2018, she 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)

At the 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships held in Delhi, Phogat won the bronze medal in the women's freestyle 51 kg category. She defeated Nanami Irie of Japan in the initial bout before she lost to Tatyana Amanzhol of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. In the repechage rounds, Tho-Kaew Sriprapa of Thailand to win the bronze medal. In the subsequent Commonwealth Wrestling Championships held in Johannesburg, South Africa, 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 in 2014, 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 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. She won the bronze medal after she beat Narangerel Eredenesukh of Mongolia by technical superiority in the repechage bout. She won the silver medal in the 2015 Asian Championships held at Doha, Qatar after she was unable to beat 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 held at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in a bid to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. But, she was disqualified from the competition as she was found to be 100 grams above the weight category and was let off with a warning. Subsequently, Phogat qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics at the 2016 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament 2 event held in Istanbul, where 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. She won the round of 16 bout against Alina Vuc of Romania easily by technical superiority. During the quarterfinal bout against Sun Yanan of China, she retired after she suffered a anterior cruciate ligament injury during the match.
Phogat made a comeback and participated in the 50 kg category in her second Commonwealth Games in 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia. In the event which was held in round-robin format, she won all her matches to secure her second gold medal across the Commonwealth Games. In the subsequent 2018 Asian Games at Jakarta, she competed in the 50 kg category. She avenged her loss against Sun Yanan of China in the round of 16 before she beat Kim Hyung-joo of South Korea in the quarterfinals and Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. In the finals, she beat Japan's Yuki Irie to win the gold medal. She became first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. In the 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships, she won a bronze medal by defeating Qianyu Pang of China. In the subsequent 2019 Yasar Dogu Tournament, Phogat won the gold medal by 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 Tokyo Olympics 2020 by virtue of her top six finish in the tournament. In January 2020, she won the gold medal in the Rome Ranking Series after she defeated Luisa Valverde in the finals. Phogat was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019 and was the first Indian to get a nomination for the award.

### Later career (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. She also won the gold medal at the 2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event to become the world number one in her 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, she headed to compete in the women's 53 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics as the world number one. Though she defeated Sofia Mattsson of Sweden in the first round, she was beaten by Belarusian Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the quarterfinals. Soon after the Olympics, she was suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for indiscipline citing that she had refused to train with her Indian teammates at the Olympics Village and had not worn the official Indian kit at the Olympics. As WFI expressed its disapproval of private partners, she issued an apology on the matter. In November 2021, WFI prevented private NGOs from signing contracts with and training wrestlers without its approval, leading to Phogat losing her private contract with JSW Sports.
In the women's 53 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, she bagged the gold medal after she won all her bouts. In the 53 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held 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.

#### 2024 Paris Olympics and retirement

As Antim Panghal had secured an Olympic quota in the 53 kg weight class, Phogat competed in the lower 50 kg weight class at the 2024 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and earned a quota place for the 50 kg category in the 2024 Summer Olympics. In the first round of the Paris Olympics, she defeated reigning Olympic and world champion Yui Susaki of Japan, who had not conceded a single point to an opponent in the Tokyo Olympics. 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. Phogat 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, Phogat was later disqualified for being above the stipulated weight during the weigh-in on the morning of the finals. As a result, she was relegated to last place in the classification.
After her disqualification, Phogat announced that she had appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. She had demanded that she be awarded the joint silver medal in the event as she was within the legal weight limits during the first day of the bout. She also announced her retirement from the sport with immediate effect. In a short verdict, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed the petition filed by Phogat requesting a joint silver medal.

## Political career

After the 2024 Olympics, Phogat announced her retirement from sports, and upon her return to India, she got a grand welcome led by Congress leader Deepender Hooda along with a roadshow from IGI airport in New Delhi to her village in Haryana. Subsequently, she was also felicitated by the Haryana Khap Panchayat, a local farmer-based community organization, and many supporters urged Phogat to join politics. On 4 September 2024, Phogat met Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, along with fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia. On 6 September, Phogat joined the Congress after meeting Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders.
Subsequent to her joining the party, the Indian National Congress fielded Phogat as their candidate from the Julana assembly constituency constituency for the 2024 Haryana Legislative Assembly election. Political analysts claimed that since a significant number of Haryana's farmers are from Jat community, which has been against the BJP over the demand for a legal guarantee of a Minimum Support Price (MSP), the entry of Phogat in Congress could help them consolidate its Jat votes. On 8 October 2024, when election results were announced, Congress could not secure a victory in the state, but Phogat won her seat, defeating BJP candidate Yogesh Kumar by over 6,000 votes.

## Socio-political activism
### 2023 protests against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)

In January 2023, Phogat along with more than 30 Indian wrestlers that included Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Anshu Malik, organised a protest demanding the dissolution of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and action against its president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, after it was alleged that its coaches had been harassing female players sexually for years. The protests were dropped after the Indian Government pledged to form an oversight committee to look into the claims. In April 2023, the wrestlers returned to protests, claiming that the Government did not honour its commitments. During the protests, Phogat said that she informed the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur about the mental harassment, torture and threats to her life after she accused and reported Bhushan.
After a full month of protest, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports instructed Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in May to suspend WFI and appoint an ad-hoc panel to oversee the functions of Indian wrestling. The panel was also instructed to hold elections for the appointment of a new WFI chief within 45 days. On 28 May 2023, Phogat, Sakshi, Bajrang and other protesting wrestlers were detained by the Delhi Police when they were marching towards the Indian Parliament to organize a protest for their call of arresting Brij Bhushan.
In August 2023, the United World Wrestling (UWW) suspended WFI's membership due to its failure in organizing elections for the post of WFI chief. This restricted India's ability to field wrestlers under the Indian flag in international wrestling events. The elections for WFI chief and 14 other posts were finally organized on 21 December 2023. Sanjay Singh, accused to be a close aide of Brij Bhushan Singh, sweeped the elections winning 13 out of 15 posts. After outrage by Phogat and other protesting wrestlers, on 24 December 2023 the Sports Ministry suspended the newly elected WFI body led by Sanjay Singh citing the disregard for established policies and procedures. In March 2024, the IOA suspended ad-hoc committee that was overseeing the operations of WFI, leading to Sanjay Singh assuming full charge of WFI. Phogat, Bajrang, and other protesting wrestlers challenged it in court, and the Delhi High Court passed an order in their favor on 16 August 2024 asking IOA to put its ad-hoc committee back in charge of WFI until the Union government recalled its suspension order formally.

### 2024 farmers' protests

On 31 August 2024, Phogat joined the ongoing 200 days long farmers’ protest at Punjab's Shambhu border in support of legal guarantee for all their crops at a Minimum Support Price (MSP). In her speech at the Shambhu border, Phogat expressed admiration for the farmers noting that she was proud to be born in a farmer's family, and subsequently, she was honoured with garlands by the farmer union leaders. Coming out in support of farmers protest, Phogat said, “the farmers of the country are in trouble, their problems should be resolved", further asserting that the government should address the farmer's issues as a top priority. She noted that the determination of farmers to continue their agitation for such a long time has also inspired others to continue fighting for their causes.

## Record against select opponents

| Weight | Opponent | Matches | Won | Lost | Net |
| 53 kg | Pak Yong-mi | 3 | 3 | 0 | +3 |
| 53 kg | Mayu Mukaida | 3 | 0 | 3 | –3 |
| 53 kg | Pang Qianyu | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 53 kg | Lannuan Luo | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 55 kg | Zhang Qi | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Maria Prevolaraki | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Sofia Mattsson | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Nina Hemmer | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Iryna Husyak | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Yuliya Khalvadzhy | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Aktenge Keunimjaeva | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Tatyana Amanzhol | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 53 kg | Sarah Hildebrandt | 2 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| 53 kg | Vanesa Kaladzinskaya | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 53 kg | Zhuldyz Eshimova | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 53 kg | Jessica Blaszka | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Luisa Valverde | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Jo Cin Chiu | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 53 kg | Natalia Malysheva | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 53 kg | Amy Fearnside | 2 | 0 | 0 | +2 |
| 53 kg | Ekaterina Poleshchuk | 2 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| Weight | Opponent | Matches | Won | Lost | Net |
| 48 kg | Yuki Irie | 3 | 2 | 1 | +1 |
| 48 kg | Eri Tosaka | 2 | 0 | 2 | –2 |
| 48 kg | Nanami Irie | 3 | 1 | 2 | –1 |
| 48 kg | Erdenesukh Narangerel | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 48 kg | Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova | 4 | 4 | 0 | +4 |
| 48 kg | Byambazaya Tsogtbaatar | 2 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| 48 kg | Lee yo-mi | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 48 kg | Kim Hyung-joo | 2 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| 48 kg | Iwona Matkowska | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 48 kg | Evin Demirhan | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 48 kg | Oksana Livach | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 48 kg | Alina Vuc | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 48 kg | Nataliya Pulkovska | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| 48 kg | Victoria Anthony | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| 48 kg | Chun Lei | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| 48 kg | Kim Hyon-gyong | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 |

## Achievements
### Legend

* W – Win; L – Loss;
* F – Victory by fall
* R - Retired

### Summer Olympic Games

| Year | Venue | Event | Opponent | Score | Round | Rank |
| 2016 | Rio de Janeiro | 48 kg | Sun Yanan (CHN) | L 1$^R$-2 | Quarterfinal | 10 |
| 2020 | Tokyo | 53 kg | Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (BLR) | L 3–9$^F$ | Quarterfinal | 9 |
| 2024 | Paris | 50 kg | Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) | DQ | Final | LFO |

### World Championships

| Year | Venue | Event | Opponent | Score | Round | Rank |
| 2013 | Budapest | 51 kg | Isabelle Sambou (SEN) | L 3–6 | Round of 16 | 10 |
| 2015 | Las Vegas | 48 kg | Kim Hyon-gyong (PRK) | L 4–8 | Round of 32 | 22 |
| 2017 | Paris | 48 kg | Victoria Anthony (USA) | L 4-6$^F$ | Round of 16 | 10 |
| 2019 | Nur-Sultan | 53 kg | Maria Prevolaraki (GRE) | W 4–1 | Repechage | |
| 2022 | Belgrade | 53 kg | Jonna Malmgren (SWE) | W 8–0 | Repechage | |

### Asian Games

| Year | Venue | Event | Opponent | Score | Round | Rank |
| 2014 | Incheon | 48 kg | Eri Tosaka (JPN) | L 4–6 | Repechage | |
| 2018 | Jakarta | 50 kg | Yuki Irie (JPN) | W 6–2 | Final | |

### Commonwealth Games

| Year | Venue | Event | Opponent | Score | Round |
| 2014 | Glasgow | 48 kg | Yana Rattigan (ENG) | W 11–8 | Final |
| 2018 | Gold Coast | 50 kg | Jessica MacDonald (CAN) | W 13–3 | Round-robin |
| 2022 | Birmingham | 53 kg | Samantha Stewart (CAN) | W 2–0 | Round-robin |

### Asian Wrestling Championships

| Year | Venue | Event | Opponent | Result | Round |
| 2014 | New Delhi | 51 kg | Tho-Kaew Sriprapa (THA) | W 4–2 | Repechage |
| 2015 | Doha | 48 kg | Yuki Irie (JPN) | L 2–3 | Final |
| 2016 | Bangkok | 53 kg | Pak Yong-mi (PRK) | W 9$^F$-4 | Repechage |
| 2017 | New Delhi | 55 kg | Sae Nanjo (JPN) | L 4–8 | Final |
| 2018 | Bishkek | 50 kg | Lei Chun (CHN) | L 2–3 | Final |
| 2019 | Xi'an | 53 kg | Pang Qianyu (CHN) | W 8–1 | Repechage |
| 2020 | New Delhi | 53 kg | Kiều Thị Ly (VIE) | W 10–0 | Repechage |
| 2021 | Almaty | 53 kg | Meng Hsuan (TPE) | W 6$^F$-0 | Finals |

## Awards and honours

Phogat was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2016. In 2018, she was nominated for Padma Shri by the Sports Authority of India. She was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019 and was the first Indian to get a nomination for the award. In 2020, she was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour. She was also nominated for the BBC Indian Sportswoman of The Year award for 2022 and 2024.
In December 2024, Vinesh Phogat was included on the BBC's 100 Women list.

## Electoral Performance

2024 Haryana Legislative Assembly election: Julana :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | INC | Vinesh Phogat | 65,080 | 46.86% | 37.02 |
| | BJP | Yogesh Kumar | 59,065 | 42.53% | 12.66 |
| | INLD | Surender Lather | 10,158 | 7.31% | New |
| | JJP | Amarjeet Dhanda | 2,477 | 1.78% | 47.23 |
| | AAP | Kavita Rani | 1,280 | 0.92% | 0.16 |
| | NOTA | None of the Above | 202 | 0.15% | New |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 6,015 | 4.33% | 14.81 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,38,871 | 75.20% | 2.42 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,85,565 | | 6.35 |
| | INC gain from JJP | INC gain from JJP | Swing | 2.15 | |