Vinesh PHOGAT

Amid the hardship and pain, it was Vinesh Phogat’s uncle Mahavir who proved to be the guiding light as the young wrestler found refuge in the sport.

After a shining junior career, Vinesh won her first major international title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, claiming gold in the 48kg weight category.

More medals would follow Vinesh as she built towards her maiden Olympic experience.

Vinesh sealed her quota place for Rio 2016 by winning her Olympic qualifying event in Istanbul and was riding high on confidence going into the Games.

But after winning her way through to the quarter-finals, Vinesh's dreams of winning a medal for her country at the age of 21 came crashing down.

Facing People’s Republic of China's Sun Yanan in the last eight, Vinesh dislocated her right knee early in the match.

The Indian was stretchered off the mat in tears, her anguish and pain all too apparent, her medal prospects shattered.

But this was not the first time Vinesh would have to display her resilience and turn the upset into a motivating force.

Gold medals at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast and the Jakarta Asian Games were proof of her determination to get back on top before the Indian wrestler decided to jump up to the 53kg weight category for the 2019 season.

Vinesh Phogat was unfazed by the transition, bagging bronze at the Asian Wrestling Championships before clinching the maiden World Championships medal, a bronze, at Nur-Sultan. Her performance there secured her place for Tokyo 2020.

Heading into the Tokyo Olympics, Vinesh Phogat had been in exceptional form. She was unbeaten throughout the year and also won her maiden gold at the Asian Championships.

Seeded first in the women’s 53kg weight category at Tokyo 2020, Vinesh Phogat began with a win over Sweden’s Sofia Mattsson but lost her next bout against Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya and was knocked out.

Vinesh later revealed that she was not in the best physical and mental shape during Tokyo 2020 and underwent elbow surgery soon after.

Vinesh Phogat returned to the mat in 2022 and instant success followed with a bronze medal at the World Wrestling Championships 2022 in Belgrade and a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

She also won the BBC Indian Sportswoman Of The Year award for the year. Phogat was also named in the Indian squad for the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou but missed the competition due to injury.

With Vinesh struggling with injuries, Antim Panghal emerged as India’s top wrestler in the women’s 53kg weight category on the back of successful campaigns at the 2023 World Championships and the Asian Games. Antim also secured a quota for India in the same category.

Vinesh, however, featured in her third Olympics on the trot at Paris 2024 after cutting down weight for the 50kg division.

She secured the Olympic quota for India in the 50kg weight category at the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers.

She entered Paris 2024 unseeded but qualified for the final after pulling off three biggest wins of her career.

Vinesh defeated top seed and Tokyo 2020 champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the opening round. In the quarter-finals, she got the better of former European champion Oksana Livach of Ukraine before besting reigning Pan American Games champion Yusneylis Guzman of Cuba in the semis.

Set to become the first Indian woman to compete in a wrestling final at the Olympics, Vinesh’s dream, however, was cut short after she failed to make the weight on the morning of the gold medal bout against the USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt.

At Paris 2024, each weight category was organised over two competition days. The medical control and weigh-in for each category took place in the morning of the first competition day. On the second competition day, wrestlers who qualified for the finals and repechage were weighed in again.

Despite taking some drastic measures to cut down her weight, Vinesh was found marginally overweight at the mandatory weigh-in and was disqualified.

On the back of her heartbreaking exit from the Paris 2024 Olympics wrestling competition, a dejected Vinesh announced her retirement from the sport a few days later.