VINESH Vinesh

25 Aug 1994
26
Female
BHIWANI
 
India
BHIWANI
 
India

Events and Medals

Discipline Event Rank Medal
WRE Wrestling Women's Freestyle 53kg 9

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Makuhari Messe Hall A Mat B
IND
VINESH VVINESH Vinesh
7
VPO1
SWE
MATTSSON SMMATTSSON Sofia Magdalena
1
Finished
Followed by
Makuhari Messe Hall A Mat B
IND
VINESH VVINESH Vinesh
3
BLR
KALADZINSKAYA VKALADZINSKAYA Vanesa
9
VFA
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

:
Olympic Games
RankEventYearLocation
10Freestyle 48kg2016Rio de Janeiro, BRA

World Championships
RankEventYearLocation
3Freestyle 53kg2019Nur-Sultan, KAZ
10Freestyle 48kg2017Paris, FRA
10Freestyle 51kg2013Budapest, HUN
22Freestyle 48kg2015Las Vegas, NV, USA

Asian Games
RankEventYearLocation
1Freestyle 50kg2018Indonesia

Asian Championships
RankEventYearLocation
1Freestyle 53kg2021Almaty, KAZ
2Freestyle 50kg2018Bishkek, KGZ
2Freestyle 55kg2017New Delhi, IND
3Freestyle 53kg2020New Delhi, IND
3Freestyle 53kg2019Xian, CHN

Ranking Series
RankEventYearLocation
1Freestyle 53kg2021Warsaw, POL
1Freestyle 53kg2021Rome, ITA
1Freestyle 53kg2020Rome, ITA
1Freestyle 53kg2019Istanbul, TUR
2Freestyle 53kg2019Ruse, BUL
:
Athlete, Railway Worker
:
Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, IND
:
Husband Somveer Rathi
:
English, Hindi
:
Indian Railways [India]
:
Woller Akos [personal], HUN, from 2018; Kuldeep Malik [national], IND
:
Her sister Priyanka and cousins Geeta, Babita, Ritu and Sangeeta have all represented India in wrestling at international level. Geeta [2012] and Babita [2016] competed at the Olympic Games. Her cousin Ritu has also competed in mixed martial arts [MMA]. Her husband Somveer Rathi is a former national-level wrestler. Her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat was an amateur wrestler and a recipient of the Dronacharya Award, an honour given to coaches for their outstanding contribution to sport in India. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Mar 2020; hindustantimes.com, 12 Feb 2020; newsbytesapp.com, 28 Aug 2018; sportscelebfamily.com, 15 Mar 2017; huffingtonpost.in, 18 Aug 2016)
:
She began wrestling at age seven in Haryana, India. (livemint.com, 05 May 2017; espn.com, 01 Jan 2016)
:
Her uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat was a wrestler and motivated her to take up the sport. (espn.com, 01 Jan 2016)
:
To win gold at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Instagram profile, 31 May 2020)
:
In 2019 she went to Bulgaria for a high-altitude endurance training camp at the Belmeken High Mountain Sports Complex. She says the experience changed her approach to training and her diet. "Bulgaria was a valuable experience. We used to do routine physical exercises, especially mountain hiking. I also did hill running and, in the evening, I worked out at the gym. It is different from how I used to train before. Even my diet has changed. I used to eat less before, but now I am made to consume more carbohydrates." (theweek.in, 06 Jan 2020)
:
Japanese freestyle wrestler Kaori Icho. (theweek.in, 06 Jan 2020)
:
Whether in training or competing in a tournament, she always writes her thoughts down on a piece of paper at the end of each day. "The whole point of this is to remind myself of what I went through on a given day. Be it the day I lost a final or the day when I was not at my best in the training. I tend to write everything down. And later when I read it, I know how I have to be mentally going into a certain moment." (olympicchannel.com, 17 Apr 2020)
:
"Wrestling is something that defines me, makes me the person I am and is something that is my biggest passion." (indianexpress.com, 27 Dec 2016)
:
In September 2016 she was presented with the Arjuna Award by the Indian government. (indiatimes.com, 03 Sep 2016)

General Interest

General
WEIGHT CLASS FOCUS
She has competed in a variety of weight classes throughout her career, including the 48kg category at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 50kg category at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. She began focusing on the 53kg category from 2019 onwards, following the 2018 rule change that sees wrestlers weigh-in the day of competition rather than the day before. "You need more speed and power in 53kg. I have focused on upper body a lot, both in the gym as well on the mat. In 50kg speed is important but here it is both speed and strength. Every opponent is strong and you need to have the stamina to last till the end." (firstpost.com, 09 Jan 2020; hindustantimes.com, 13 Sep 2019; unitedworldwrestling.org, 17 Mar 2017)

FAMOUS FAMILY
She comes from a family that is famous for wrestling in India. She and her sister Priyanka were raised by their uncle, Mahavir Singh Phogat, after their father died when she was age eight. Mahavir taught them wrestling alongside his four daughters Geeta, Babita, Sangeeta and Ritu, and all six cousins have represented India in the sport. She said her uncle used to wake them up at 04:00 for wrestling training, and they would train every day for six hours. "I was good at wrestling but I wasn't too keen on pursuing it. He [Mahavir] wanted an Olympic medal. We did not even know what that was. We used to wonder, 'Who is this Olympics?' We just wanted the Olympics to show up fast so that we could get a break from my uncle's strict training." (theweek.in, 06 Jan 2020)

LOSS OF FATHER
Her father, the younger brother to Mahavir Singh Phogat, was shot and killed over a land dispute when she was age eight. Like her uncle, she says her father hoped the girls in his family would become successful wrestlers. "My father had big dreams for us. He used to say that, one day, his daughters would wrestle professionally and he would watch from the crowd and cheer on. When he died, I was too young to understand what to feel, so the loss did not affect me a lot then. But, whenever my mother cried over his death, I would feel bad. Now that I am older, I understand that pain; I miss my father's presence. I sometimes wish he was there to watch me during competitions." (theweek.in, 06 Jan 2020)

OCCUPATION
She joined the Indian Railways under a sports quota programme that allows her to train and compete internationally. (1843magazine.com, 15 Nov 2019)

Legend
:
Gold Medal Event
:
Silver Medal Event
:
Bronze Medal Event
VFA:
Victory by fall
VPO1:
Victory by points - with point(s) scored by the opponent
Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos