And her indomitable spirit was saluted as she received support from all quarters on social media after storming into the women's 50 kg freestyle semis, on Tuesday.
'It was my wish that she focus on her game and win a gold medal in the 2028 Olympics'
The Indian sporting fraternity reacted with disappointment at the (CAS verdict rejecting wrestler Vinesh Phogat's appeal against her Olympic disqualification.
Hurdlers Ashwini Chidananda and Joseph Abraham stole the limelight with gold medals while the Indian men's hockey team and talented middle distance runner Tintu Luka bagged the bronze as India added four more medals to their kitty on the 13th day of competitions in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on Thursday.
Indian grapplers Ram Vir (84kg) and Pradeep Kumar (66kg) cut a sorry figure as both lost their respective bronze medal play-offs in the freestyle wrestling competition to round off another disappointing day at the Asian Games in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
Following is India's schedule on Thursday, Day 13 of competition at the Paris Games:
Defending champion Bajrang Punia settled for a bronze in men's 65kg freestyle as Indian grapplers bagged two medals on the penultimate day of the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships
"I want to dedicate my gold to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. He has inspired me," Punia tweeted after his victory.
Balraj settled for a silver after narrowly losing his 76kg freestyle bout against Russia's Batyrbek Tcakulov as the Indian grapplers returned with two medals from the Cadet World Championship which concluded in Zrenjanin, Serbia.
The 34-year-old two-time Olympic medallist proved that class is permanent, and that the youngsters still have a long way to go, at least in his weight category -- the men's 74kg freestyle.
India will go unrepresented in five categories at the upcoming Zagreb Open in Croatia as Bajrang Punia, Antim Panghal and three others didn't give consent for their selection to the ad-hoc panel that announced a 13-member team on Tuesday.
Indian Olympian Vinesh Phogat swaps wrestling arena for politics. Phogat retired from wrestling after she was disqualified ahead of the women's 50 kg freestyle final for failing to make weight.
Yogeshwar Dutt bagged an unexpected bronze medal in the freestyle wrestling event at the Asian Games.
Indian grapplers finished their campaign at the Asian Wrestling Championship in Bangkok, Thailand with nine medals, including a gold, in the five-day event.
Wrestling has not missed a medal at the Olympics since 2008 and Sehrawat's effort ensured the streak remained unbroken.
The Indian grappler lost both his bouts in the freestyle wrestling competition.
2018 was largely forgettable for Sushil Kumar -- India's only double Olympic-medallist -- and Sakshi Malik -- the country's first and only woman wrestler to win a medal at the biggest stage.
Let's delve into the five most notable sporting accomplishments that India has achieved post August 15, 1947.
As per Article 11 of Chapter 3 - Competition Procedure of United World Wrestling's ruling on weigh-ins: The weigh-ins for wrestlers take place in the morning on the day of their competition.
Promising young grappler Mangal Kadyan claimed India's first gold medal in the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in Phuket, Thailand on Saturday.
Cuban wrestling great Mijain Lopez became the first Olympian to win five golds in the same individual event on Tuesday.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will go ahead with the trials in the men's freestyle 74kg category despite a postponement request from the injured Sushil Kumar. Sushil, who has been struggling to revive his career, has pulled out of Friday's trials citing a hand injury and had requested trials in his category to be postponed.
During a felicitation function of World Championships medal-winning wrestlers by Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju in New Delhi on Monday, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan mooted the idea of making wrestling the national sport, which received the backing of double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar.
Meet India's top athletes at Olympics 2024.
IOA president PT Usha made it clear that it is the responsibility of the athlete to manage their weight and the attack on its medical team.
India will send 117 athletes to the Paris Olympics, starting July 26 in the French capital. This will be India's second-biggest contingent at an Olympic Games after 121 athletes went to Tokyo in 2021. A total of 47 female and 70 male athletes will be part of the Indian contingent at the Games.
Vinesh Phogat is a reminder that true champions are not just defined by their medals but by their character and their impact on society.
Mausam Khatri on Thursday gave the Indian wrestling contingent its third medal at the ongoing Asian Games after bagging a bronze in the men's 96kg freestyle competition in Guangzhou.
Nisha Dahiya's Olympic journey came to a premature end after a heartbreaking 10-8 loss to North Korea's Sol Gum Pak
Following is India's schedule on Monday, Day 10 of the Paris Olympics
From battling opposition from the villagers who considered wrestling to be a man's sport, losing her father at the age of just nine, to taking on powerful federation officials, Vinesh has faced innumerable hardships on her way to realising her dreams.
India's youngest individual medal winner at the Paris Olympics, the 21-year-old from the iconic Chhatrasal akhadaa (wrestling academy), gave a sneak peek into his mindset before the biggest bout of his nascent career.
Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat came up with a commanding performance to bag the gold medal in the Zagreb Open Ranking Series tournament, defeating China's world No. 7 Wanhao Zou 10-0 in Zagreb.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 13, Thursday, August 8.
Panghal's remarkable season has outshone even senior standout Vinesh Phogat, who shares the same weight category
Here's your complete guide to when India's athletes compete at the Paris Olympics, with dates, events, and timings in IST.
India's Vinesh defeated Mongolian wrestler in the women's freestyle 48kg category 10-0 to win bronze at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on Saturday.
The weight category sports at the Olympics are wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, judo and weightlifting. Most of these are combat sports and weight categories are designed to match athletes with competitors of similar size.
The rejection of Vinesh's appeal means India's tally from the Paris Olympics will be of six medals which includes one silver and five bronze.
Eager to fetch an Asian Games gold on his comeback to competitive wrestling after a long hiatus, star freestyle grappler Sushil Kumar will head to Georgia for a ten-day tune-up ahead of the continental showpiece.
