Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat resigns from her Railways job

India's renowned wrestler Vinesh Phogat has resigned from her Indian Railways government service that she had been performing for the last few years. She made her decision public in the social media this afternoon and showed her gratitude to the Indian Railways family for letting her serve the nation.

In a post on X, Phogat wrote:

"Serving Indian Railways has been a memorable and proud time of my life. At this point in my life, I have decided to separate myself from the railway service and have submitted my resignation to the competent authorities of the Indian Railways. I will always be grateful to the Indian Railway family for this opportunity given to me by the Railways in the service of the nation."

Vinesh Phogat will reportedly poltiics as news emerged of her and Bajrang Punia joining a political party in India. This is not the first time that athletes have taken up politics as a career, as numerous sportspersons from the past have decided to serve the nation in similar fashion.

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Vinesh Phogat's unlucky Olympics campaign

Almost a month back, Vinesh Phogat could have won what would have been India's only gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. But a slight overweight of 100 grams disqualified her on the morning of the women's 57kg freestyle wrestling final.

The night prior to the final, it was found out that Phogat weighed two kilograms more than the permissible limits. She didn't eat, applied sauna treatment, did jogging, cycling, and skipping to cut down the extra weight in order to make herself eligible for the final. But unfortunately, when the weight was measured on the morning of the final, and an extra 100 grams meant she was disqualified, meaning she was not eligible for a silver medal too.

Her opponent in the final, USA's Sarah Hildrebrandt, ultimately won the gold medal. Phogat had pleaded for a shared silver medal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), but the international body turned down the same.