Sakshi Malik is an Indian freestyle wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win an Olympic medal. She had previously won silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships. Malik began wrestling at age 12 in her home state of Haryana and overcame initial opposition to her participation as a girl in the sport. Her breakthrough on the international stage came in 2010 with a bronze at the Junior World Championships. After medaling in various competitions, she qualified for the 2016 Olympics and defeated opponents from Sweden, Moldova, and Mongolia before winning bronze in a comeback victory against Kyrgyzstan in the repechage playoff.

1. About Sakshi Malik
Sakshi Malik (born 3 September 1992) is an Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2016 Summer
Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler
to win a medal at the Olympics. Malik had previously won silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth
Games in Glasgow, and bronze medal at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha.
Early life
Malik was born on 3 September in a village in Rohtak district in the Indian State of Haryana to
Sukhbir, an employee with Delhi Transport Corporation and Sudesh Malik, a government
servant.[7]
She began training in wrestling at the age of 12 under a coach, Ishwar Dahiya, at
an akhara in Chhotu Ram Stadium, Rohtak. Her coach and she had to face opposition from the
locals for having taken up a sport "not for girls".
Career
2010–2015
Malik's first success as a professional wrestler in the international arena came in 2010 at the Junior
World Championships where she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg freestyle event.[8]
At the 2014
Dave Schultz International Tournament, she won gold in the 60 kg category.
Malik began her campaign at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games winning her quarterfinal
bout against Edwige Ngono Eyia of Cameroon by a 4–0 margin. In the semifinal, she faced Braxton
Stone of Canada whom she defeated 3–1 to assure herself of a medal. Her opponent in the final
was Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria who defeated her 4–0 in a closely contested bout.[9]
At the 2014 World
Championships in Tashkent, she faced Anta Sambou of Senegal in the Round of 16, and won the
bout 4–1. She crashed out of the tournament after a 1–3 loss to Petra Olli of Finland.[10]
At the 2015 Asian Championships in Doha, Qatar, in a total of five rounds in the 60 kg category,
Malik battled through two rounds to finish in third position and claim a bronze medal. In the first
round, she faced Luo Xiaojuan of China but was beaten 4–5 by fall verdict. She came back strongly
in the second round to beat Munkhtuya Tungalag of Mongolia 13–0, before losing in the third round
to Yoshimi Kayama of Japan. She was able to clinch the bronze medal in the fourth round, beating
Ayaulym Kassymova of Kazakhstan.[11]
2016 Summer Olympics
Malik qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics by defeating China's Zhang Lan in the semifinal of the
58kg category at the Olympic World qualifying tournament in May 2016.[12]
At the Olympics, she won
her Round of 32 bout against Sweden's Johanna Mattsson and Round of 16 bout against
Moldova's Mariana Cherdivara. After losing to eventual finalistValeria Koblova of Russia in the
quarterfinal, she qualified for the repechage round where she defeated Pürevdorjiin Orkhon of
Mongolia in her first bout. She won the bronze medal after a 8–5 victory over the reigning Asian
champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan, despite trailing 0–5 at one stage, in the repechage

2. medal playoff, and became India's first female wrestler and the fourth female athlete ever to win an
Olympic medal.
Awards and recognition
 2 crore (US$300,000) from the Government of Haryana, in addition to a state land grant.
 50 lakh (US$74,000) from the Indian Railways, as its employee.
 20 lakh (US$30,000) from the Indian Olympic Association.
 15 lakh (US$22,000) from the JSW Group.
 1.01 lakh (US$1,500) from Salman Khan.