Vinesh Phogat is set to return to competitive wrestling and will attempt to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, nearly 18 months after announcing her retirement following the Paris 2024 Games.
Phogat had stepped away from the sport after she was disqualified from the women’s 50 kg freestyle final at the Paris Olympics for failing to make the second weigh-in on the morning of the final. She was scheduled to face the USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt in the gold-medal bout, which would have secured India’s first Olympic silver in wrestling in the women’s category.
Before the disqualification, Phogat had produced a dominant run, including a 5–0 win over Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez to enter the final. She was the first Indian woman to reach the gold medal bout.
Even after appealing against her disqualification with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), her plea was rejected, stating that the athlete is responsible for maintaining the given category weight.
Announcing her return, Phogat wrote about rediscovering her passion during her break from the sport.
‘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,” Phogat added.
“In that silence, I found something I’d forgotten ‘the fire never left’. It was only buried under 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. So here I am, stepping back toward LA28 with a heart that’s unafraid and a spirit that refuses to bow.”
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) December 12, 2025
She will join the inspiring list of women athletes to make a comeback in their respective sports alongside the likes of Mary Kom, Deepika Kumari, and Sania Mirza. Phogat welcomed a baby boy in July 2025 with her husband, Somvir Rathee, who is also a wrestler.
“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.
Phogat has won a total of 5 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze medals in the World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships. She is currently the sitting MLA for the Julana constituency in Haryana, representing the Congress.