Plane travel fuelled my Olympic dreams, Sakshi Malik tells young wrestling aspirants

There is no substitute for hard work and discipline if you want to chase your dream of winning an Olympic medal, 2016 Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik told young wrestlers in an interaction on Wednesday.

“I was inspired by Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt as they started winning medals for India at international level. When they made India proud at the Olympics, it served as a huge motivation. I also wanted to win an Olympic medal for my country,” said Sakshi, who was a guest speaker in Sports Authority of India’s online training programme - E-Pathshala.

“I come from an ordinary background. No one in my family was a wrestler. My grandfather had done some mud wrestling. I was not aware of the Olympics while growing up. If someone like me can achieve success and win an Olympic medal, any young athlete who is willing to work hard can be successful,” she said.

Sakshi, the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal, shared her inspiring story with the junior and sub-junior wrestlers who are part of the online training course.

She said the desire to travel in a plane and see the world fuelled her dreams.

“I had been playing sports since I was a child but had little idea about the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. It was after I got into wrestling and started winning medals at junior level that the interest in these events started going up,” said the 27-year-old, who has also won two Commonwealth Games and four Asian Championships medals, and a bronze at the 2010 junior world championships. The was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award following her Olympics bronze.

Recalling her bouts at Rio, Sakshi said she was determined to somehow win bronze after reaching the medal playoff. She defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova in a dramatic contest in 58kg repechage, overturning a 0-5 deficit to snatch victory (8-5) with seconds left in the clock.

“When I reached that bronze medal match, I didn’t want to lose at the final hurdle. My coach kept telling me ‘you are better than her’. It was a tough match and only at the very end was I able to win. I can’t explain in words what the feeling was, I didn’t know whether to laugh, smile or cry,” said Sakshi, recalling the moments when coach Kuldeep Malik carried her around the arena on his shoulders.

“It took me some time to realise what I had achieved. My coach explained to me that my life will change after the medal. When I grow old, it is a precious memory that will always remain with me. I am very grateful for all the love the country has given me.”

Sakshi told the youngsters remain positive and stick to their fitness work outs. “This is a very good initiative by SAI and Wrestling federation. In these difficult times when even we can’t train properly, with these sessions you can stay at home and learn a lot.”