Vinesh Phogat makes retirement U-turn, eyes comeback with gold at LA Olympics 2028

Vinesh Phogat announces comeback for LA Olympics 2028

After nearly 18-month hiatus from wrestling, Vinesh Phogat has announced her comeback to the sport to chase her Olympic medal dream. On Friday, Vinesh confirmed that she has come out of retirement from professional wrestling. In 2024, Vinesh announced retirement from the sport after being disqualified in the 50 kg freestyle final at Paris Olympics. Vinesh was set to compete with the US’ Sarah Ann Hildebrandt for the gold medal but was disqualified for breaching the weight limit.

In her recent post on her official media handles, Vinesh wrote, ”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.”

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— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) December 12, 2025

”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.

For those unversed, Vinesh has won two bronze medals in World Championships, an Asian Games gold in 2018 and bronze in 2014, and three Commonwealth Games gold.