Pooja Gehlot

Pooja Gehlot (born 15 March 1997) is an Indian freestyle wrestler. She won the bronze medal in the women's 50 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England. She also won a silver medal at the 2019 U23 World Wrestling Championships in the 53 kg category. Gehlot participated in this championship after a two-year break because of a shoulder injury.

Personal life and background

Pooja Gehlot was born on 15 March 1997 in Delhi in a Jat Family. She showed keen interest in sports from an early age. Her uncle Dharamveer Singh was a wrestler and he started taking her to an akhara when she was about six years of age. However, her father Vijender Singh was opposed to her playing wrestling and Gehlot started playing volleyball. She went up to play at the junior national-level in volleyball. Although, her coaches thought that she was not tall enough to make an impact in the game.

Gehlot's got inspired after Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari Phogat from Haryana won medals for India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Phogat sisters' success inspired Gehlot to switch to wrestling. She also became only the second Indian woman to win a silver medal in that event.

In 2022, she competed at the Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Senior career results