Geeta Phogat
About
Hailing from a small Haryana village, Geeta Phogat rose to fame by busting many myths of the patriarchal society to become a world-class freestyle wrestler who went on to become the first Indian woman to win the Commonwealth Games. She is also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Summer Games.
She is the inspiration behind Aamir Khan's Bollywood blockbuster film 'Dangal' , a story of how a man trained his daughters for a male-dominated sport like wrestling in rural India breaking all social norms.
Coached by her father, Mahavir Singh, Geeta has also trained under O.P. Yadav and Ryan Dobo when she qualified for the 2012 London Olympics.
Her ride to success and fame hasn't been smooth. With her determination, she has overcome various hardships and obstacles to chalk out her path and win many accolades.
Having drawn inspiration from Geeta Phogat, in 2014, Babita Kumari and Vinesh Phogat, both sisters of Geeta Phogat won gold medals at the 2014 'Glasgow Commonwealth Games'.
Awards and Accomplishments
Awards and Accomplishments
She shot to fame in 2010 when she won India’s first ever gold medal in the ‘Commonwealth Games’. She won the medal in women’s wrestling in the 55-kilogram category.
In the 2012 ‘World Wrestling Championships’ held in Canada, Phogat won the bronze medal and at the 2015 ‘Asian Wrestling Championships’ in Doha, she finished third, winning the bronze medal.
Among her numerous other medals are the golds in Commonwealth Wrestling Championship and Wrestling FILA Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament as well as the silver in the 2013 ‘Commonwealth Wrestling Championship’. She also has a couple of bronze medals under her belt.
Geeta won the prestigious ‘Arjuna Award’ in 2012.
Why Geeta Phogat?
She often talks about how she overcame obstacles through sheer hard work and determination. Geeta Phogat has inspired millions of girls in the country to go after their dreams regardless of the difficulties that they may encounter. Her talks are mainly focused on shattering stereotypes and following your passion by crushing all opposition.
