Early career (2013–2016) At the
2013 Asian Wrestling Championships held in
Delhi, Phogat won the bronze medal in the women's freestyle 51 kg category. She defeated
Nanami Irie of Japan in the initial bout before she lost to
Tatyana Amanzhol of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. In the
repechage rounds, Tho-Kaew Sriprapa of
Thailand to win the bronze medal. In the subsequent Commonwealth Wrestling Championships held in
Johannesburg, South Africa, she won the silver medal in the 51 kg category after she lost to
Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria in the final. In her first
Commonwealth Games in
2014, she competed in the
48 kg category. She defeated Rosemary Nweke of
Nigeria in the quarterfinals and
Jasmine Mian of
Canada in the semi-finals. In the gold medal bout, she defeated
Yana Rattigan of
England by a score of 3-1 and won her first gold medal at the Games. Phogat won a bronze medal in the
48 kg category at the
2014 Asian Games held in
Incheon, South Korea. She defeated Yongmi of
North Korea in the first round before she overcame
Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of
Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals. She lost to
Eri Tosaka of
Japan in the semi-finals by a scoreline of 1–3. She won the bronze medal after she beat Narangerel Eredenesukh of
Mongolia by
technical superiority in the repechage bout. She won the silver medal in the
2015 Asian Championships held at
Doha, Qatar after she was unable to beat
Yuki Irie of Japan in the finals.
Injury and comeback (2016–2020) from President
Shri Pranab Mukherjee. In April 2016, Phogat was slated to compete at the
2016 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament 1 held at
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in a bid to qualify for the
2016 Summer Olympics. But, she was disqualified from the competition as she was found to be 100 grams above the weight category and was let off with a warning. Subsequently, Phogat qualified for
2016 Summer Olympics at the
2016 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament 2 event held in
Istanbul, where she beat Polish wrestler
Iwona Matkowska in the final. She competed in the
48 kg category at her first Olympics in
2016 at
Rio de Janeiro. She won the round of 16 bout against
Alina Vuc of
Romania easily by technical superiority. During the quarterfinal bout against
Sun Yanan of
China, she retired after she suffered an
anterior cruciate ligament injury during the match. Phogat made a comeback and participated in the
50 kg category in her second
Commonwealth Games in 2018 in
Gold Coast, Australia. In the event which was held in
round-robin format, she won all her matches to secure her second gold medal across the Commonwealth Games. In the subsequent
2018 Asian Games at
Jakarta, she competed in the
50 kg category. She avenged her loss against Sun Yanan of
China in the round of 16 before she beat
Kim Hyung-joo of
South Korea in the quarterfinals and
Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of
Uzbekistan in the semifinals. In the finals, she beat
Japan's Yuki Irie to win the gold medal. She became first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. In the
2019 Asian Wrestling Championships, she won a bronze medal by defeating Qianyu Pang of China. In the subsequent
2019 Yasar Dogu Tournament, Phogat won the gold medal by defeating
Ekaterina Poleshchuk of Russia in the final. In the
2019 World Wrestling Championships, she won the bronze medal in the
53 kg category after she defeated Maria Prevolaraki in the bronze medal match. She also became the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the
Tokyo Olympics 2020 by virtue of her top six finish in the tournament. In January 2020, she won the gold medal in the Rome Ranking Series after she defeated Luisa Valverde in the finals. Phogat was nominated for the
Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019 and was the first Indian to get a nomination for the award.
Later career (2021–present) Phogat defeated the 2017 World Champion
Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus to win the gold medal at the Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial tournament held in
Kyiv in February 2021. She also won the gold medal at the 2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event to become the world number one in her weight category. In June 2021, she won the gold medal in the 53 kg category in the Poland Open wrestling tournament in
Warsaw after defeating Ukraine's Khrystyna Bereza in the final. In August 2021, she headed to compete in the
women's 53 kg event at the
2020 Summer Olympics as the world number one. Soon after the Olympics, she was suspended by the
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for indiscipline citing that she had refused to train with her Indian teammates at the Olympics Village and had not worn the official Indian kit at the Olympics. As WFI expressed its disapproval of private partners, she issued an apology on the matter. In November 2021, WFI prevented private NGOs from signing contracts with and training wrestlers without its approval, leading to Phogat losing her private contract with
JSW Sports. In the
women's 53kg event at the
2022 Commonwealth Games held in
Birmingham, she bagged the gold medal after she won all her bouts. In the
53kg event at the
2022 World Wrestling Championships held in
Belgrade, she won her second World Championship bronze medal. She lost her first round bout against
Batkhuyagiin Khulan of Mongolia, but won three straight games in the repechage rounds to win the bronze. As
Antim Panghal had secured an Olympic quota in the 53 kg
weight class, Phogat competed in the lower 50 kg weight class at the
2024 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and earned a quota place for the
50 kg category in the
2024 Paris Olympics. In the first round of the
Paris Olympics, she defeated reigning Olympic and world champion
Yui Susaki of Japan, who had not conceded a single point to an opponent in the Tokyo Olympics. The match was a cagey affair with Susaki leading 2–0 through two penalty points until the final few seconds when the Indian effected a
takedown and scored an upset win. Phogat beat
Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the quarterfinals and
Yusneylys Guzmán of
Cuba in the semifinals by point decisions to qualify for the final. However, Phogat was later disqualified for being above the stipulated weight during the weigh-in on the morning of the finals. As a result, she was relegated to last place in the classification. She also announced her retirement from the sport with immediate effect. In a short verdict, the CAS dismissed the petition requesting a joint silver medal. In December 2025, Phogat announced her return to competitive wrestling with the goal of qualifying for the
2028 Los Angeles Olympics, nearly 18 months after retiring following the 2024 Paris Olympics. Announcing her comeback, Phogat stated that time away from the sport helped her rediscover her passion for wrestling. == Political career ==