Vinesh Phogat Retirement: Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who announced her retirement after a heartbreaking end through disqualification in the Paris Olympics 2024, has decided to return to the sport with an eye on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Notably, Vinesh's disqualification from the Paris Olympics gold medal bout became a huge talking point in the country.

Vinesh, in her retirement-reversal post, stated that she needed time to reflect on her journey.

Vinesh Phogat created history of sorts by becoming the first and only Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic gold medal bout. She defeated Japan's Yui Susaki, guaranteeing India at least a silver medal. However, Vinesh was found 100 grams overweight during her routine morning weigh-in, which resulted in her disqualification.

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"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,” wrote Vinesh in an X post on Friday.

"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 had already scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic gold-medal bout.

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A three-time Olympian, she has won gold medals at both the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games.

Inputs from Agency