Vinesh Phogat and Somvir Rathee
Photo: Vinesh Phogat/ Instagram
Sharing good news with her fans on social media today (March 6), Indian wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat announced that she is expecting her first child with her husband Somvir Rathee. Vinesh posted a picture with her husband Somvir, with the caption: “Our love story continues with a new chapter.” Vinesh and Somvir’s fans and well-wishes soon started sending in their best wishes to the couples, and fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshee Malik also congratulated them.
Vinesh Phogat was much in news a few months for her Paris Olympics 2024 controversy after which she retired from wrestling. For the unversed, Vinesh created history at the Paris Olympics 2024 for becoming the first Indian woman to reach an Olympic final. But, just a few hours before her final match, Vinesh was disqualified from the entire event for being 100 grams overweight– a decision which broke not just Vinesh’s, but a billion hearts in India. Following the controversy, Vinesh has announced her retirement from wrestling. Her post on X read, “Ma Kusti (Mother, wrestling) won against me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream and my courage has been broken. I don’t have any more strength now… Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024.”
However, she had later also hinted at returning to the sport with a post on Instagram that read, “Granted, you’re tired today. Granted, today, you’re a wounded bird. But you still have courage within you. You’re still alive for the sake of your goal.” Meanwhile, Vinesh joined politics under the Congress banner and also won a seat from Julana in the Haryana Assembly election.
Vinesh Phogat and Somvir Rathee’s love story
Both Vinesh Phogat and Somvir Rathee are wrestlers by profession. While Vinesh has represented India in several national and international matches, her husband, Somvir Rathee, is a National-level wrestler from Haryana. Vinesh and Somvir first met the Indian Railways, where they were employed. It was their love for wrestling that helped them bond, and soon love blossomed between them.
In 2018, the wrestling couple made their relationship official during the Jakarta Asian Games. Vinesh had defeated Japan’s Yuki Irie and won a gold medal at the Jakarta Asian Games 2018. Upon returning to India, Somvir proposed to Vinesh right outside the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi in a heartwarming gesture!
Vinesh and Somvir got engaged in August 2018, and in December 2018 they got married in an intimate wedding which was held at Vinesh’s hometown Charkhi Dadri in Haryana, India. Their small wedding reflected their similar views against gender-bias and undue social pressures of big-fat Indian weddings.
Amar Ujala had reported that Vinesh and Somvir had asked their families to contribute INR 1 as shagun for their wedding rituals.
Vinesh and Somvir also took eight vows, instead of the traditional seven vows in Hindu marriages. The reason: Their eight vows being “beti bachao, beti padhao, beti khilao” (which translates to: save daughters, educate them, and let them play or excel in sports).
Now over six years later, Vinesh Phogat and Somvir Rathee are ready to welcome their first child together.
Best wishes to the couple!
