Babita Kumari Phogat bio, career, height, family, controversies, and more

Babita Kumari Phogat is one of the famous Indian freestyle wrestler-turned-politician. Moreover, she became very popular after winning a Silver medal at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. Also, Babita is one of the most accomplished female wrestlers in the history of India. Recently, she came into the spotlight with her appearance in the reality show named Lockupp. Famous actress Kangana Ranaut also hosts this show.

About Babita Kumari Phogat

Early life, family and early career of Babita Kumari Phogat

Babita Kumari was born on Monday, 20 November 1989. Her birthplace is Bhiwani, Haryana. Also, her zodiac sign is Scorpio. She also did her schooling in MDU, Rohtak, to pursue her further education. Moreover, her father wanted his daughters to be wrestlers and started training Babita. Hence, Babita began her training with her elder sister Geeta from a very young age. Also, she often visited Akharas in her neighboring villages along with her father and sister. She mostly had to wrestle with boys, as making a career in wrestling is still considered taboo for women in India. Afterward, she attended the National Sports Academy in Patiala.

Babita Kumari Phogat also belongs to a Hindu Jat family. Moreover, her father’s name is Mahavir Singh Phogat, a wrestler. Her mother’s name is Shobha Kaur. She also has a brother named Dushyant Phogat and three sisters, Geeta Phogat, Sangita Phogat, and Ritu Phogat. All her sisters are also wrestlers.

Career

Babita Kumari started her wrestling career in 2009. She also began with the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship. In addition, she won the Gold medal in the women’s freestyle 51 kg category. However, her popularity raised after securing a Silver medal at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. Moreover, in the 2012 World Championship, Babita became the second female wrestler (first being her sister Geeta Phogat) from India to win a medal at the event. Both of them won Bronze medals.

In 2014, she also went on to win a Gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Afterward, she was qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the fourth female wrestler from the country to be eligible for the Olympics. However, she was defeated in the first round itself.

After a disappointing performance at Rio Olympics, Babita secured a Silver medal in women’s 55kg freestyle wrestling at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Then, she participated in the dance reality show “Nach Baliye 9” with her boyfriend, Vivek Suhag, in 2019.

Now she is appearing in the Alt Balaji show Lockupp.

Babita Kumari was a supporter of the Indian National Lok Dal. Then, Babita joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and her father, Mahavir Phogat, on 12 August 2019. She also contested the 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections from the Dadri Constituency but lost.

Controversies

In May 2018, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat, along with their younger siblings Ritu and Sangeeta were ousted from the National camp in Lucknow. The WFI cited their unexplained absence from the camp as reason. WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told PTI that ““The wrestlers selected for the National camp are expected to physically report to the camp within three days. If they have any problems or issues they should go there and report it to the coaches and find a solution. But Geeta, Babita and others (in all 13) did not do that. They were incommunicado. This is serious indiscipline on their part and the WFI felt it’s time to pull the plug. So we have told them to sit at home and enjoy.”

Personal life

Babita got married to the wrestler Vivek Suhag on 1 December 2019 at her ancestral village Balali in Haryana.

Some interesting facts about Babita Phogat

• Babita was born to a renowned Indian wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat. 
• Her father used to bring them to various Akharas in their neighboring villages. Simultaneously, they had to wrestle with boys. However, a career in wrestling is still considered taboo for women in India, especially in the northern parts of the country like Haryana.
• She is also a fitness enthusiast and visits the gym regularly.
• Babita revealed during an interview that the conditions in her village were so worse that the females including her mother, had been carrying the veil from long ago. When the Phogat sisters became popular, they asked their mother to drop the cover, but no other women in their village still dared to do so.
• She is also an animal lover.

Also read: Saisha Shinde