Vinesh Phogat comes out of retirement

In a statement posted on Instagram on Friday, the wrestler said: “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, and 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. In that silence, I rediscovered something I had 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.”

She added: “So here I am, stepping back toward LA28 with a heart that’s unafraid and a spirit that refuses to bow. And this time, I’m not walking alone; my son is joining my team — my biggest motivation, my little cheerleader on this road to the LA Olympics.”

Phogat had announced her retirement shortly after the Paris 2024 Olympics last year, a day after she was disqualified from her gold-medal bout for being over the weight limit.

She became the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final after a notable run in Paris that included a win over Japan’s four-time world champion Yui Susaki. Her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport seeking reinstatement and a joint silver medal was later dismissed.