Her Rio campaign cut short in the quarterfinals due to injury, Vinesh Phogat will be hoping to make amends in Tokyo, and become only the second Indian woman wrestler to medal at the Olympics.
PERSONAL DATA
Date of birth: 25-08-1994
Birthplace: Balali, Haryana
Height: 159 cm
Weight: 53 kg
Event: Women's freestyle 53kg wrestling
CAREER DATA
Olympic Games
48kg freestyle: QF exit (2016)
World Championships: (1 medal)
53kg freestyle: bronze (2019)
Commonwealth Games: (2 medals)
48kg freestyle: Gold (2014)
50kg freestyle: Gold (2018)
Asian Games: (2 medals)
50kg freestyle: Gold (2018)
48kg freestyle: Bronze (2014)
Asian Championships: (8 medals)
55kg freestyle: Silver (2017)
53kg freestyle: Gold (2021), Bronze (2016, 2019, 2020)
51kg freestyle: Bronze (2013)
50kg freestyle: Silver (2018)
48kg freestyle: Silver (2015)
BIOGRAPHY
Vinesh is the first Indian woman wrestler to win golds in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. She comes from a successful family of wrestlers from Bhiwani, Haryana -- the Phogat clan. Her cousins Geeta Phogat, Babita Kumari and Ritu Phogat are former CWG medallists (the latter is now an MMA professional).
Vinesh participated in the 2016 Rio Games, in the 48kg division. She lost in the quarterfinals to China's Sun Yanan after being forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.
She goes into the Tokyo edition in superb form, having recovered from COVID-19 and then winning golds in the Outstanding Ukranian Wrestlers and Coaches memorial tournament and the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event in the space of a fortnight. She then went on to win gold in the Asian Championships.