Vinesh Phogat, the Indian female wrestler who slammed stereotypes and won our hearts

Have a look at how Vinesh Phogat punched her way to our hearts with her dhakad performance.

Wrestling probably had only a few faces to look up to until a certain period. And these faces were mostly men. But things changed for good and now we have a number of female wrestlers who have made a smark in the field. Breaking stereotypes just came naturally to them. Among many such amazing female wrestlers is Vinesh Phogat.

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Think It. Want It. Get It....!!! ? @kadircaliskan

A post shared by Vinesh Phogat (@vineshphogat) on Feb 27, 2020 at 11:56pm PST

Vinesh Phogat is an Indian wrestler who belongs to a family who has been a part of the sport. Her father Mahavir Singh Phogat was also a wrestler. Indian wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari are her cousins who have also contributed immensely to the sport. She married to her long time beau and fellow wrestler Somvir Rathee.

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2019 was a year filled with emotions some bitter, some sweet! Started off the year with a lot of anger, frustration, and fear inside of me.? I had a new full-time coach, a whole new practice regimen, and most importantly a completely new weight category! Now that I think of it, this new weight category made the biggest difference and finally helped me achieve something that I had pursued for a long time, a World Championship medal! ☺️☺️ Chasing that medal brought in huge changes. I changed the way I trained, the way I ate, and how I recovered!!! I explored new countries, wandered round new cities and had a tonne of fabulous new experiences. ?? Looking back, 2019 turned out pretty great! 2020 comes with a lot of promise with the fact that I am competing at my second Olympic Games taking it to a whole new level!? Thank you 2019 for all the wonderful and not so wonderful moments that taught me so much! Wishing all of you a very happy new year!!! 2020 is gonna be SPECIAL! ?✊?✨????

A post shared by Vinesh Phogat (@vineshphogat) on Dec 31, 2019 at 8:24am PST

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Vinesh is a product of great awakening and struggles as her father and uncle had to face a lot of criticism for going against their community and encouraging his daughters to become part of wrestling. But all it took was their sport and the laurels they won for the country to shut mouths.

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Always hold that head high

A post shared by Vinesh Phogat (@vineshphogat) on Nov 13, 2019 at 12:21am PST

She won gold in 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the women's freestyle. In 2018 she came back home with two gold medal at 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and became first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in the Asian Games at the 2018 Asian Games. Phogat made the country even more proud in 2019 at Yasar Dogu International by defeating Ekaterina Poleshchuk of Russia. She pinned Maria Prevolaraki in the Bronze medal match and bagged a maiden World Championship medal in the women's 53kg category. She is also the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by virtue of her top-six finish.

Vinesh is been honoured with the highest sports honour Arjuna Award in 2016 and was nominated by the Sports Authority of India for Padma Shri in 2018.