“I have seen my father defying societal norms and investing his time and energy on us. He was ridiculed and criticised by the community for asking girls to seek a career in wrestling. But he had vision and was least worried when elders warned him his daughters would not find grooms. I had to wrestle for him and that motivated me tremendously.”

Indian freestyle wrestler

Geeta Phogat is an Indian freestyle wrestler, known for making history for women’s wrestling in India. She won the country’s first gold medal in women’s wrestling at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and later became the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Olympic Games. Her achievements placed her at the center of a larger shift in Indian sport, especially for women in wrestling. She is recognized for breaking new ground in competition and for helping open a path that had not been there before.