Vinesh Phogat Biography (Wrestling – India): Early Life, Career, Family, Husband, Awards, Olympics 2016, 2020, and 2024, Achievements, Controversies, Social Media
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Vinesh Phogat is a famous Indian professional freestyle wrestler. She is the person who has made her nation proud several times just like her sisters Geeta Phogat, Ritu Phogat, Babita Phogat, and Priyanaka Phogat. All the sisters are wrestlers and they are the pride of India. Now to know everything about Vinesh, read this blog till the last as have covered every single information about her career, early life, personal life, and more.
Table of Contents
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Early Life
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Vinesh Phogat was born on 25th August 1994 in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, India. She was trained by her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat. At the time of her early days, her 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 values of their community.
Vinesh Phogat Wikipedia
| Full Name | Vinesh Phogat |
| Date of Birth | 25th August 1994 |
| Birthplace | Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, India |
| Age | 29 years old (as of 2024) |
| Height | 159 cm (5 ft 3 in) |
| Nickname | — |
| Parents | Rajpal Phogat (Father) and Premlata Phogat (Mother) |
| Husband | Somvir Rathee |
| Kids | — |
| Net Worth | ₹36.5 Crores (as of 2024) |
| Sport | Wrestling |
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Net Worth
According to the source, the net worth of Vinesh Phogat is more than around ₹36.5 Crores, as of 2024.
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Personal Life
Vinesh Phogat is a married woman. She is married to fellow wrestler Somvie Rathee from Jind. They both tied the knot with each other on 13th December 2018. Both of them worked for the Indian Railways and they have known each other since 2011.
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Career
- Vinesh Phogat is a multiple Commonwealth Games gold medalist, she has won gold at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 Games.
- She is the first Indian wrestler who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth and Asian Games after she won the gold medal in the Asian Games in 2018.
- She has also won two bronze medals at the World Wrestling Championships.
- She is a three-time Olympian, she has competed in three different weight classes including 48 kg in 2016, 53 kg in 2020, and 50 kg in 2024.
- She became the first international wrestler who defeat the then-reigning Olympic champion Yui Susaki, on the way to becoming the first Indian female wrestler to reach an Olympic final in the Summer Olympics 2024.
- She was nominated for the Laures World Sports Awards in 2019 and she was the first Indian who got a nomination for the award.
- She was part of the Indian wrestler protest in 2023 against then president of the Indian Wrestling Federation BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment by a lot of female wrestlers.
Vinesh Phogat Olympics 2016
Vinesh Phogat made her debut in the Olympics in 2016. She qualified for the Sommer Olympics 2016 at the 2016 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament 2 event which was held in Istanbul. She competed in the 48 kg category at her first Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. She won the round of 16 bout against Alina Vuc of Romania.
Vinesh Phogat Olympics 2020
Vinesh Phogat was the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by her top-six finish in the tournament. She competed in the women’s 53 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics as the world number one.
Vinesh Phogat Olympics 2024
Vinesh Phogat qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics. She participated in the 50 kg category event. In the first round of the tournament, she defeated reigning Olympic and world champion Yui Susaki of Japan. Then she beat Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the quarterfinals and Yusenylys Guzman of Cuba in the semifinals by point decisions to qualify for the final.
Unfortunately, she got disqualified for being above the stipulated weight by 100 g at the time of the weigh-in on the morning of the finals. She was regulated to last place in the classification.
After her shocking disqualification, she officially announced that she had appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. She demanded that she be awarded the joint silver medal in the event as she was within the legal weight limits at the time of the first day of the bout. She also announced her retirement from the sport with immediate effect.
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Family
Vinesh Phogat was born to Rajpal Phogat and Premlata Phogat. She hails from a family of wrestlers. Her sister Priyanka Phogat is a wrestler, and her cousins sisters Geeta Phogat, Ritu Phogat, and Babita POhogat are also wrestlers. Her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat is a former wrestler. It is claimed that she was just 9 years old when a mentally unstable relative of her family is said to have shot her father dead in front of their house.
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Controversy
In January 2024, Vinesh Phogat with more than 30 Indian wrestlers organized a protest demanding the dissolution of 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.
This protest was dropped after the Indian government pledged to form an oversight committee to look into the matter. Then in April 2023, the wrestlers returned to protest as it was claimed that the government did not honor its commitments. At the time of the protest, it was said that Vinesh informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur about the harassment that she faced after reporting against Bhushan. On 24th December 2023, the Sports Ministry suspended the newly elected WFI body led by Sanjay Singh citing the disregard for established policies and procedures.
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Achievements
Legend:
- W – Win; L – Loss;
- F – Victory by fall
- R – Retired
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Awards
- Arjuna Awards – 2016
- Nomination for Padma Shri by the Sports Authority of India – 2018
- Nomination for the Laures World Sports Awards – 2019
- Major Dhyan Chad Khel Ratna – 2020
- Nomination for the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award – 2022
Vinesh Phogat Biography: Social Media
- Instagram: @vineshphogat
- Twitter (X): @Phogat_Vinesh
