Olympian Vinesh Phogat officially began her political journey as she inaugurated her election office in Julana on Tuesday, September 10. Vinesh, who joined the Congress party on September 6, will contest elections from Julana. A member of her team told Outlook India she will be filing her nomination on Wednesday morning.
However, her uncle and wrestling coach Mahavir Singh Phogat, who is a Dronacharya awardee, is not happy with her decision of joining politics. According to him, Vinesh should not have joined politics at this stage and should have aimed for a gold medal in the 2028 Olympic Games.
"The decision that she has taken, I am saddened by it that she had joined politics. But she could have taken this decision after the 2028 Olympics, it would have been better," he said in a statement to news agency ANI.
Mahavir Singh Phogat is also the father of wrestler Babita Phogat, a Commonwealth Games medal-winner who joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 elections. Freestyle wrestler Babita Phogat, who inspired the Bollywood film ‘Dangal’, had contested the 2019 polls from Dadri but failed to secure enough votes.
Coming from a family of wrestlers, Vinesh has exhibited her talent and resilience at every level. In August 2024, she became the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the Olympic finals. Unfortunately, she was disqualified just before the final match for being overweight. Later, she announced her retirement from wrestling and decided to join politics.
At the age of 19, Vinesh secured a bronze medal at the 2013 Asian Wrestling Championship. The following year, she won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. Later on, she clinched another gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and a historic bronze at the 2019 World Championships. In 2021, she grabbed the Asian championship title by winning another gold medal.
However, the wrestling champion had been quite unlucky in the Olympics. This year, right after Phogat became the first woman wrestler to reach the Paris Olympic finals, she was disqualified from the match. A similar situation had happened with her in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Vinesh Phogat's Journey From Squared Circles To Elections:
Olympics setbacks
Rio 2016
At the age of 21, Vinesh Phogat made her Olympic debut and played an impressive match against Romania’s Emilia Alina Vuc. She defeated her by 11-0. However, the game took an adverse turn in the quarter-finals. While competing against China’s Sun Yanan, Phogat suffered a knee injury and had to be carried off the mat on a stretcher. She could not compete further.
Tokyo 2020
Vinesh made her space in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by winning a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships. Determined to make up for her previous loss at Rio, the reigning world No. 1 played well in qualifier matches. However, she was met with disappointment again after she lost in the quarter-finals against Belarus’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya.
Paris 2024
Paris Olympics became a milestone in Phogat’s career. She defeated Japan’s Yui Susaki, a wrestler who had been defeated just once in her career. Following, she won over Ukraine’s Oksana Livach and Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez.
Phogat was all set to win her first Olympic gold this year but destiny had other plans. Just before the match, Vinesh was found overweight by 100 grams and was disqualified.
“It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning,” IOA said in a statement.
Wrestlers' protest
In January 2023, Vinesh Phogat, along with 29 other wrestlers protested against the former President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh. Vinesh was joined by Sakshee Malikkh, Anshu Malik, and Bajrang Punia at the Jantar Mantar protest where they were demanding action against Brij Bhushan Singh, who had allegedly sexually harassed women wrestlers.
The wrestler’s protest was sparked by the WFI’s denial of allegations against Brij Bhushan Singh. Despite a sports ministry intervention and the formation of an oversight committee led by Mary Kom, the wrestlers were frustrated by the lack of transparency and their exclusion from the selection of committee members.
The situation escalated in May when Phogat and her fellow protesting wrestlers were ‘manhandled’ by Delhi Police at the Jantar Mantar. Protesters alleged that the police mistreated women wrestlers and Phogat suffered injuries due to that.
The involvement of Vinesh Phogat other top wrestlers made the protest against Brij Bhushan get national attention.
Olympic disqualification and entry in politics
A day after Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Paris Olympics, she announced her retirement from wrestling. The disqualification disheartened Phogat as this time it was not only about the game but also about her fight against WFI.
She shared a post on X writing “Wrestling won and I lost. My dreams are shattered. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to you all. I am sorry.”
Following this announcement, she expressed her plans to join politics. Recently, the Congress party fielded Vinesh Phogat from Julana for the October 5 assembly polls. Phogat expressed confidence in winning the Haryana elections.
