Sakshi Malik, a 23 year old wrestler, got India its first medal in the Rio Olympics 2016. Born on 3rd September 1992, she lives in a small village called Mokhra in Haryana. Her parents saw her passion for wrestling and have supported her all through her life. She started wrestling at the age of 12.
Pursuing a career in wrestling for a girl in India is not easy. As she was training for wrestling under her coach Ishwar Dahiya, they had to face protests from locals for training Sakshi. Her village was completely against a girl wrestling and especially with boys.
After beating all the odds, she became the first Indian women wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics. She also became the fourth Indian wrestler to ever climb up to the podium at the biggest sporting event in the world.
She has always shown potential in free style wrestling. The list of her early achievements is long. At the age of 18, she bagged a bronze medal at the 2010 Junior World Championship. Her international career started in the year of 2014, when she won a gold at the Dave Schultz International Wrestling Tournament. Sakshi’s professional international career got a kick start when she won a silver medal at the Common Wealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
In the early hours of Thursday, 18th of August, Sakshi made the entire country proud. After winning a medal at the Olympics, she said that, her hard work for the past 12 years has finally paid off. People in India also couldn’t comprise their excitement. Everyone took to social media to congratulate her and join her in this happy moment.
The Haryana government has promised to reward her with a price money of Rs. 2 crore. Not only this, the Railways have also promised to give her a bonus of Rs. 50 lakh. Her story is inspiration for the entire world. How a girl with so many bans on her career won a medal for the nation. We at AAW wish her all the best for a bright future ahead. Hope she gets many more medals for India.
