The other Phogat girl
Vinesh lost her father at the age of nine and was adopted by her uncle (tauji) Mahavir Phogat (father of Geeta).
Vinesh Phogat was known as the cousin of famous wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat on whose life the movie Dangal was made. However, it all changed when Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. Vinesh lost her father at the age of nine and was adopted by her uncle (tauji) Mahavir Phogat (father of Geeta). “Vinesh started practicing from the age of five with our uncle and Geeta and Babita,” says Rahul, her cousin.
Vinesh reached India from Jakarta on 25 August and to everyone’s happy surprise, got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Somveer, a wrestler, at Delhi airport. The engagement rituals were completed near the parking area outside the airport. “It was my 24th birthday. For the last few years I was losing my bouts just few days before my birthday. Since I won an Asian Games gold medal this time, to make it a memorable birthday we decided on the engagement at the airport,” said Vinesh.
Though elated at her performance, Mahavir Phogat feels marriage can wait and she first needs to focus on World Championship and then Tokyo 2020 Olympics. “My daughters were the first to win Commonwealth gold medal for our country, now this daughter of mine is the first to win a gold at Asian Games, I want my girls to be the first to win an Olympic gold for the country, let’s see which of my daughters does that,” says Mahavir Phogat.