Woman power: Five women, having beaten all odds, and one man will look to add to India’s medal haul in wrestling

Rohit Mahajan

Chandigarh, July 22

Five Indian women, led by the peerless Vinesh Phogat, would vie for a medal at the Paris Olympics — five women who have beaten prejudice and patriarchy to earn the right to represent India at the world’s biggest stage for sports.

3 Days to go
Wrestlers have won 7 medals in Olympics — 2 silver and 5 bronze

For Vinesh, the pain of a horrible ligament tear in her right knee at the Rio Olympics was exceeded by the trauma caused by the indifference of the authorities to her and other wrestlers’ cry for justice; they protested publicly, vociferously against sexual harassment they said they suffered at the hands of former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The authorities — ministers, MLAs, MPs — were indifferent, the police sluggish. Sakshi Malik, one of the protesters, and the only Indian woman to win an Olympics medal, retired from the sport in anger and disgust.

Vinesh, having won public sympathy but, she says, not justice, must now fight on the Olympics mat for the third time for a medal; and the challenge is immense. At 29, she’s probably at her strongest ever, but she faces a weighty challenge. After ditching her preferred 48kg, she moved to the 50kg category, then 53kg and then back to 50kg, and this is disorienting in elite sport where every ounce of weight and strength matters.

She was among the favourites at the Tokyo Olympics — competing in the 53kg class, in which she’d won two World Championships medals — but crashed out early there. After Antim Panghal qualified for Paris in the 53kg category, Vinesh had to drop down to the 50kg class. Can the best Indian female wrestler of her generation get a medal at her third Olympics? It would be tough. She’s not seeded, which means that she could face Yui Susaki, a four-time world champion and defending Olympics champion, early. If not Susaki, Vinesh could be pitted against any of the multiple World Championships medallists early.

Antim chance

Let’s get this out of the way — Antim will not win gold in the Paris Olympics. If that sounds harsh, hang on. Akari Fujinami has never been defeated in a senior wrestling bout (a streak which numbers around 130+ bouts now). Even considering the potential for sport to surprise, this is a field where everyone’s fighting for second place. Antim, all of 19, has figured in only five senior level international tournaments, and won a medal in each. She is the best thing that has happened to Indian wrestling in a long time, but let’s not get too excited — Antim’s path to a medal would be blocked by a very formidable field.

Anshu Malik, who competed in Tokyo at age 19, can spring a surprise — she has tasted success at the highest level, winning a silver at the World Championships. Anshu, who earned her spurs by deposing Sakshi, is in good form, winning silver at the Budapest Ranking Series recently.

Nisha Dahiya (68kg) and Reetika Hooda (76kg) wrap up the women’s freestyle team. Reetika, 21, is the only Indian woman to win the U-23 World Championships title and has been in impressive form.

Aman, one man

That brings us to Aman Sehrawat (57kg), who won the U-23 World Championships title two years ago. The 21-year-old defeated his idol Ravi Dahiya, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, to earn the right to fight in Paris. To eclipse Ravi, the young Aman had to take off the rose-tinted glasses and look at his idol as just an adversary. Aman is confident of winning a medal, but it’s going to be a very, very tough ask — he’s never beaten the wrestlers who would be his competitors. At last year’s World Championships, he was beaten by technical superiority by Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan.

Aman’s time will come, but can it be in Paris?

Only two seeded Indians

• This is the first time wrestling events will have top eight seeds at the Olympics. Wrestlers were seeded based on their performances at the 2023 World Championships, 2024 Continental Championships, 2024 Zagreb Open Ranking Series and 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series
• In the Indian squad, only Antim Panghal (4th) and Aman Sehrawat (6th) have been seeded

Weight on her shoulders

Three years after winning silver in Tokyo, Mirabai Chanu is set to compete in her third, and most likely last, Olympics. The 29-year-old is steadily returning to her best after an injury layoff, totalling 184kg in April. To win a medal in Paris, Mirabai will need to lift more than 200kg once again — she had tallied 202kg in Tokyo. The top contenders will be China’s defending champion Hou Zhihui, who is the favourite to win gold, and Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao.

History in the making

At age 41, Cuba’s Mijain Lopez seeks a record fifth gold medal as a heavyweight in Greco-Roman. He became the first wrestler to win four gold medals when he dominated in Tokyo. In the history of the modern Olympics, only one athlete, Dutch speedskater Ireen Wust, has managed to win five golds in five successive Games.

Wrestling

Women

50kg: Vinesh Phogat August 6-7

Defending champion: Yui Susaki (Japan)

53kg: Antim Panghal August 7-8

Defending champion: Mayu Mukaida (Japan)

57kg: Anshu Malik August 8-9

Defending champion: Risako Kawai (Japan)

68kg: Nisha Dahiya August 5-6

Defending champion: Tamyra Mensah-Stock (US)

76kg: Reetika Hooda August 10-11

Defending champion: Aline Rotter-Focken (Germany)

Men

57kg: Aman Sehrawat August 8-9

Defending champion: Zaur Uguev (Russia)

Weightlifting

Women’s 49kg: Mirabai Chanu August 7