Vinesh Phogat Shocks Fans With Retirement U-Turn, Prepares For 2028 LA Olympics Push

India’s top wrestler Vinesh Phogat said on Friday that she has come out of retirement from professional wrestling, announcing her return after an 18-month break to pursue her Olympic goal.

Paris Olympics Disqualification

Following her disqualification from the 50 kg freestyle final at the Olympics in Paris last year, Phogat declared her retirement from wrestling. Phogat defeated Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba 5-0 in the semifinals to advance to the gold medal match. She was disqualified for exceeding the weight restriction, even though she was scheduled to fight for the gold medal against Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the United States. ‘People kept asking if Paris was the end,’ Phogat wrote in an X post. I didn’t know the answer for a very long time. 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.

What Did Vinesh Phogat Say?

‘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,” she added. Vinesh will now join the list of elite Indian athletes who returned to competition after childbirth. In July 2025, the Olympian and wrestler Somvir Rathee welcomed a kid into the world. “I’m not walking by myself this time. On the journey to the LA Olympics, my son is becoming a member of my squad, my greatest inspiration, and my little cheerleader.’

Phogat won three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games (2014, 2018, 2022), two bronze medals at the World Championships (2019 and 2022), and gold and bronze in the Asian Games (2018 and 2014). She won silver and bronze at the continental level in addition to winning gold in the 2021 Asian Championships.

(With Inputs From ANI)

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