Bollywood was jubilant on Thursday amid news that India has won its first medal at the Rio Olympics, with Sakshi Malik picking up a women’s wrestling bronze. But the diminutive Sakshi staged a stunning comeback and overwhelmed bewildered Asian champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan as she clocked eight points to claim India’s first ever women’s wrestling medal in the Olympics. The other bronze was won by Marwa Amri of Tunisia. But much like in her personal life, the Indian wrestler came back strong to not only equalise the score but also land a three-pointer seconds before the bell.
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The young wrestler overturned a 0-5 deficit in a hectic second round to script an 8-5 victory in the medal bout at the Carioca Arena 2 here. She repeated her move and successfully bagged two more points to lead 5-0 at the break. She got another chance at a medal after her quarterfinal opponent Valeria Koblova reached the gold medal match. Qualifying for the repechage (a lifeline for wrestlers who’ve lost their bid to enter the finals), she defeated Mongolia’s Purevdorjiin Orkhon to go on to the bronze medal bout.
Khattar said, “Sakshi Malik has done Haryana and the country proud by opening India’s account in the medals tally in the Olympics at Rio in Brazil”.
Malik has plenty of experience in fighting the odds.
Malik hails from Rohtak town in the north-western state of Haryana, where girls were discouraged from training as wrestlers till a decade ago and female foeticide is rampant. The wrestling contingent will be back in India on August 23 and the felicitation will be held on a suitable date after that. In most local wrestling tournaments, women are not allowed even as spectators.
Women’s 100 metres Hurdles will also be held. Mahavir’s niece Vinesh Phogat also competed in the wrestling at Rio on Wednesday, losing her bout after an injury.
“There was a lot of social backlash”, Dahiya says. The male-dominated sport has historically not encouraged women, but more women have challenged traditional norms and taken up the sport in recent times. “That’s how she won the match”, Arvind Lalwani, Team Singapore wrestler and head coach at Juggernaut Fight Club told the BBC.
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Sakshi Malik has done the impossible.
