Announcing herself to the pool of Indian wrestling, Tapasya Gahlawat secured a gold medal in the 57kg weight division at the Wrestling Junior World Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria. The 19-year-old’s victory was a significant milestone for India, as it marked the country’s first gold at the tournament. In the semifinals, she defeated the defending world champion Sowaka Uchida of Japan, who had arrived with an unbeaten international record. A last-second takedown sealed a narrow 4-3 win, while the final against Felicitas Domajeva was a more straightforward 5-2 victory.
The triumph, however, was accompanied by a sense of loss at the Gahlawat home. Celebrations were muted as the victory came just a week after the sudden, fatal heart attack of her grandfather. Tapasya was at the national camp in Delhi when she received the tragic news. Overwhelmed with grief, she considered returning home, but her father, Pramesh Gahlot, urged her to stay and train, reminding her of her grandfather’s last words: he had told her to return home as a world champion. She honoured that request and did just that.
Pramesh Gahlot’s unwavering support for his daughter stems from his own unfulfilled wrestling dreams. Growing up, he had aspired to follow in his grandfather's footsteps as a prominent dangal wrestler, but a severe internal injury ended his career. When his wife gave birth to a daughter, he was initially disappointed, but for a different reason. He had planned to make his son a wrestler. However, upon hearing others express disappointment that "it’s only a girl who has been born," he made a firm decision. “So I decided I’d make my daughter a wrestler,” he recalls, a plan he knew was ambitious but necessary.
The journey was challenging from the start. Family elders opposed the idea, arguing, “you can’t have a girl wrestling.” Tapasya herself was initially hesitant, preferring her studies and aspiring to become a doctor. Pramesh persisted, providing examples of successful female wrestlers like Geetika Jakhar and Geeta Phogat to convince his family. His efforts paid off when a 10-year-old Tapasya won a state school championship, an achievement that slowly wore down the opposition and turned her grandfather into her staunchest supporter.
Since then, the family has fully committed to her career, with Pramesh even moving them to Sonepat to be closer to the Yudhvir Akhara, an all-girls academy where she now trains under coach Seema Kharab. Tapasya’s recent achievements include a silver in the women’s 57kg category at the national championships in Jaipur, and gold medals at the Asian U-20 Championships in Bangkok and the National Games. The gold in Bulgaria crowns this run, but she knows the work isn’t over. “Abhi aage aur jana hai. Abhi aur mehnat karni hai,” her father says, a sentiment that Tapasya will carry as she looks toward the senior World Championships in Zagreb.
