Reversing her decision to retire, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Friday announced that she would return to the mat to take another shot at an elusive Olympic medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
A three-time Olympian, she has won gold medals at both the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. She won World Championships bronze medals in 2019 and 2022, a gold in Asian Games in 2018, a bronze in 2014 and multiple medals at the Asian Championship. An Olympic medal has eluded her in three attempts.
Vinesh, who is currently a Congress MLA from Haryana’s Julana seat (district Jind), had announced her retirement from wrestling following her disqualification from the Paris Olympics gold medal bout. Though she moved the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) against her disqualification, she did not get a favourable judgement.
Elaborating on her decision to return to wrestling, she said in her post on X, "People kept asking if Paris was the end. For a long time, I didn’t have the answer. I needed to step away from the mat, from the pressure, from the expectations, even from my own ambitions. For the first time in years, I allowed myself to breathe.’’
"I took time to understand the weight of my journey the highs, the heartbreaks, the sacrifices, the versions of me the world never saw. And somewhere in that reflection, I found the truth, I still love this sport. I still want to compete’’, she said.
"In that silence, I found something, I’d forgotten `the fire never lift’. It was only buried under the exhaustion and noise. The discipline, the routine, the fight … it’s in my system. No matter how far I walked away, a part of me stayed on the mat’’, she said.
"So here I am, stepping back toward LA28 with a heart that’s unafraid and a spirit that refuses to bow. And this time, I’m not walking alone my son is joining my team, my biggest motivation, my little cheerleader on this road to the LA Olympics.’’ She added.
After the Paris Olympics, Vinesh joined Congress and won the Julana seat in 2024.
