Vinesh Phogat Comes Out of Retirement, Targets LA 2028 Olympics

Hyderabad: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat has confirmed that she is coming out of retirement from professional wrestling, setting her sights on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Vinesh had announced her retirement following the 2024 Paris Olympics after she was disqualified for being 100gram overweight ahead of her 50 kg category gold medal bout.

In a post on X, Vinesh announced her comeback to the “mat”, adding, “I still love this sport. I still want to compete.” She also said that her son will be joining her as her “biggest motivation” and “little cheerleader” on her road to the LA Olympics.

“People kept asking if Paris was the end. For a long time, I didn't have the answer. 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.

“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. 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,” Vinesh wrote on X.