Vinesh Phogat advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday after defeating Ukraine’s three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Oksana Livach 7-5.
This marks Phogat’s first Olympic semifinal appearance. She will compete again on Tuesday night. Earlier in the tournament, Phogat achieved a significant victory by beating Japan’s Yui Susaki 3-2 to secure her spot in the quarterfinals. Susaki, the reigning Olympic champion and four-time World Champion, had won gold at the Tokyo Games without conceding a single point.
Phogat had been eliminated in the quarterfinals at both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In Rio, she was forced to retire due to an ACL injury. With three Olympic appearances, she now holds the record for the most Olympic Games competed in by a female Indian wrestler.