The fire never left: Vinesh Phogat retracts on retirement plans, eyes LA 2028 Olympics in emotional comeback

PTC News Desk: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Friday announced her return to competitive wrestling, ending her 18-month retirement with a strong assertion that her 'fire never left' and that she is ready to chase her dream of stepping onto the Olympic podium at Los Angeles 2028. 

Vinesh was disqualified on the morning of the gold-medal bout for being 100 grams over the stipulated weight limit. Hours before she was poised to clinch the title of first woman to compete in an Olympic wrestling final, her dreams were shattered in Paris.

Notably, Vinesh fought in the Haryana Assembly election last year, and won the Julana constituency by a margin of 6,000 votes.

People kept asking if Paris was the end. For a long time, I didn't have the answer. I needed to step away from the mat, from the pressure, from the expectations, even from my own ambitions. For the first time in years, I allowed myself to breathe.

"I took time to understand the weight of my journey the highs, the heartbreaks, the sacrifices, the versions of me the world never saw. And somewhere in that reflection, I found the truth, I still love this sport. I still want to compete.

"In that silence, I found something I'd forgotten 'the fire never left'. It was only buried under exhaustion and noise. The discipline, the routine, the fight... it's in my system. No matter how far I walked away, a part of me stayed on the mat.

"So here I am, stepping back toward LA28 with a heart that's unafraid and a spirit that refuses to bow."