Coming from India’s first family of women wrestlers, it was only a matter of time before Vinesh Phogat would prove to be one of the very best in the business. Having won medals in six of her seven international tournaments since July 2014, the highly consistent Vinesh is one of India’s strongest medal bets from her sport.
With hopes of more than a billion on her shoulders, the 48kg freestyle grappler now heads to the 2016 Rio Olympics with her confidence at an all-time high. As the 21-year-old aims for the gold medal, here are 10 things that should help you to know Vinesh Phogat better:
1. Vinesh was born on 25 August 1994 in the Balali village of Haryana. She lost her father Rajpal at the tender age of nine and was brought up by her uncle, Mahavir Singh Phogat, who is the father of champion wrestlers Geeta and Babita.
2. Mahavir and his brother had to face a lot of pressure from their patriarchal village when they wanted their girls to take up wrestling and were even ostracised. It was ultimately the success of the Phogat sisters that changed everything and today, they are the pride of the entire village.
Under the strict supervision of Mahavir, Vinesh, like her sisters, grew up wrestling more with boys. Her talent was soon recognised and after Geeta’s 2010 Commonwealth Games gold win, Vinesh was singled out as the one who would carry the family legacy even further.
3. Despite her immense talent, she was initially reluctant to give wrestling so much space in her life. But as the results started showing, it would ultimately take up all her time. In 2013, she proved her mettle at the Asian Wrestling Championships and the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships where she won the 51kg bronze and silver medals respectively.
4. 2014 was the year in which Vinesh burst into the spotlight. At the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, a 19-year-old Vinesh captured the gold medal in the women’s freestyle 48kg in her very first appearance at this event. Days later, the youngster followed it up with a bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games to fully establish herself as one of the brightest stars in Indian women’s wrestling.
5. Vinesh continued her impressive run of form as she clinched the silver medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships the very next year. In 2016, even though it was not her usual weight category of 48kg, she still ended up with the bronze medal in the 53kg competition.
6. The 1st World Olympic Qualifying event in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia turned out to be a major shock for Vinesh as she was deemed overweight by 400gm and was eventually disqualified.
No matter how much demoralizing that was, she bounced back from that setback in two weeks time by clinching a Rio berth at the next Olympic qualifier in Istanbul. She outshone everybody else at that tournament and defeated the 2014 World Championships silver medalist Iwona Matkowska en route to the gold medal.
She thus became the first Indian woman grappler to qualify for the Rio Olympics and was later joined by Sakshi Malik and her own cousin Babita Kumari.
7. The spirited 21-year-old has oozed confidence ahead of her Olympic debut. She has promised that she will settle for nothing less than a gold medal in Brazil, adding that she considers herself the best in her own weight category.
“I’m going to Rio thinking of the gold and nothing else,” revealed Vinesh.
“No disrespect to anyone but I consider myself the best in my weight category. My leg attacks — both single and double — are difficult to defend against. Ask my rivals.”
8. At the inaugural Pro Wrestling League held last year, she was appointed the captain of her team, Dilli Veer and she remained undefeated, winning all five of her bouts.
9. Vinesh, who is supported by JSW Sports under their Sports Excellence Programme, is a huge fan of tennis and wanted to play tennis ever since she was a kid.
10. A new Aamir Khan Bollywood film called ‘Dangal’ will be released in December based on the life of Mahavir and the Phogat sisters. Vinesh believes that such a film will help inspire more Phogat sisters in India.
“It is good that Bollywood is doing its bit to bring sports like these to the forefront. Tauji's (Mahavir’s) life is worth documenting and such a film will help more women take up wrestling and other sports, and inspire more Phogat sisters in India.”
