Wrestler Sakshi Malik came back swinging from 0-5 down to end India's medal drought at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a bronze finish in the 58 kg category. On Wednesday, the grappler became the first woman wrestler from the country to win an Olympic medal, the other four medals in wrestling being won by men, two of those claimed by Sushil Kumar in 2008 Beijing and 2012 London.
Sakshi is also only the fourth female athlete from India to have stood on the podium biting the glorious medal, after weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari (2000, Sydney), boxer MC Mary Kom (2012, London) and shuttler Saina Nehwal (2012, London).
After losing to one of the finalists Valeriia Koblova (Russia) in the quarter-finals, Sakshi got a shot at the bronze medal because of the repechage rule. Sakshi defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova (8-5) to create history for India.
The 23-year-old Haryana girl has become a sports icon in the country overnight! Here's all you need to know about the girl who fought against all odds to etch her name in the golden pages of wrestling history in India, one that was started by Khashaba Jadhav in 1952
1. Sakshi Malik, daughter of Sudesh and Sukhbir Malik was born on September 3, 1992, in Rohtak Haryana.
2. She took up wrestling when she was only 9 years old. She started training under Ishwar Dahiya at an akhada in the Chotu Ram stadium when she was 12.
3. Sakshi fought against sexism even as a kid. Coming from a region which thought the sport was not for girls, she wrestled with boys as her coach stood against all the protests from the locals.
4. She first made her presence felt at the international level when she won the bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in 2010 in the 59 kg category.
5. In 2014, Sakshi won her first gold medal at the Dave Schultz International Wrestling Tournament in the 60 kg category
6. Her next accolade came in 2014 when she won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
7. On the road to Rio, Sakshi won another bronze at 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha, Qatar.
8. Sakshi qualified through the second Olympic Games World Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul.
9. On August 17, 2016, she made history with her bronze win at the Rio Olympics 2016.
10. The medal won by Sakshi is the fifth bronze in wrestling for India in its long Olympic history stretching back to 1952 Helsinki Games when Kashaba Jadhav became its first individual medallist.
