Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik made history yesterday when, with her bronze medal win in the women’s 58kg freestyle wrestling, she became the first Indian female wrestler to win an Olympic medal.
23-year-old Malik, a native of Rohtak, Haryana, beat Kyrgysztani wrestler Aisuluu Tynybekova in the pair’s bronze medal match to take a come-from-behind victory. She had been trailing 0-5 until half-time, but it was in the final 30 seconds that Malik took charge to reduce her deficit to a single point, taking the lead – and the win – in the final two seconds, in a victory that was significantly lauded.
Her win was acknowledged by several key names in the sporting fraternity:
She also had wishes from the political fraternity: