Most Indian wrestlers failed to win medals in Paris Olympics 2024. After Vinesh Phogat was disqualified, the chances of medals in this sport seemed low, but on 9 August, 21-year-old young wrestler Aman Sehrawat did this feat. He won a bronze medal for India. Now India's last wrestler Ritika Hooda is going to enter the wrestling arena in Paris. She will play the pre-quarterfinal match in the 76 kg weight category on Saturday, August 10. Let us tell you that she is the first Indian woman to reach the Olympics in this category. However, Ritika's journey was not so easy. At one time she was so broken that she had decided to quit wrestling.

The journey from defeat to the Olympics

22-year-old Ritika is a resident of Kharkda village in Rohtak. She started wrestling at a very young age and her dream was to win an Olympic medal for India one day. Her parents also supported her a lot for this. Despite having financial problems, they took care of every need. She was deeply shocked by the defeat in 2022. She could not qualify for both the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. This disappointed Ritika so much that she decided to quit wrestling.

Then her parents came in her support. Both of them explained a lot to their daughter and encouraged her to overcome the defeat and move forward. After some time, Ritika got inspired by this and she started working hard once again. According to her, she sweats for 7 to 8 hours every day for this. She also got the benefit of this.

First Indian women's under-23 champion

Ritika participated in the Under-23 World Championship in 2023 and achieved success by winning the gold medal. She also became the first Indian woman to do so. This also increased her confidence. After this, she continued to work hard for the Olympics and decided to play with a free mindset in every match. Before going to Paris, Ritika had said that the gold medal was her goal. Now she is only 4 steps away from it. To fulfill her dream, she will have to win 4 more matches. However, its first step will be the Round of 16.