After the Wrestling Federation of India announced that all Olympic quota winners would be representing India in the various categories, they'd won their quotas in, it's now been confirmed that Vinesh Phogat will be competing in the 50kg weight category at the Paris Olympics. This marks a significant shift for Vinesh, as she's been competing in the 53kg category for five years now. But how does this really affect her? We explore:
First, why did she drop to 50kg?
The first wrestling quota to be wrapped up for India was the women's 53kg - Vinesh's favoured category - and it was done by Antim Panghal, who won bronze in the 2023 World Championships.
At the time Vinesh was recuperating from surgery, and on return she competed in the national trials for 50kg: which she won, thus allowing her to compete in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in late April this year.
Oh, and how did she qualify in this weight category?
By reaching the final in the aforementioned Asian Olympic Qualifiers. It was her return to international wrestling after a long layoff post-surgery. At the Qualifiers she won her matches 10-0, 2-0, and 10-0, looking in pretty dominant form.
Now, has she competed in 50kg before?
Oh yes, she has. And extremely successfully. But it's been a while: her last major medal in the 50kg came in 2018 when she won Asian Games gold - in the same year she also won Commonwealth Games gold and an Asian Championships silver in the 50kg category.
In fact after being 2018 is the only year she's competed internationally in the 50kg weight class, till of course these Asian Qualifiers.
Ok, who will be her main opponents in Paris?
Sarah Hildebrandt of the USA is a consistent performer in the 50kg. She's won Olympic bronze, as well as two silvers and two bronzes at the World Championships (including bronze at the latest). Mongolia's Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal is just 22 and reigning Worlds silver medalist (she has also has an additional Worlds silver and bronze).
The main threat in this category, though, is reigning Olympic champion and (reigning) 4-time World Champion Yui Susaki. An absolute juggernaut, Susaki has lost just three fights since 2015, all of them to compatriot Yuki Irie. She was also Japan's flagbearer at their home Games, and won gold there without dropping a single point.
Tough, then?
Susaki has an imposing record, and recent form suggests she's maintaining her incredible levels of consistency, but the one bright spot for Vinesh is that she's beaten the only person to beat Susaki. In 2018, Vinesh beat Irie in the semifinals of the Asian Championships and in the final of the Asian Games.