Sakshi Malik: Decoding the wrestler's career achievements
Olympic medal winner Sakshi Malik has announced her retirement from wrestling following the appointment of Sanjay Singh, who won the latest WFI election. Singh is an alleged loyalist of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh against whom the wrestlers, including Malik protest for sexually harassing female wrestlers. The veteran wrestler believes that things won't change for female wrestlers even in Sanjay Singh's regime.
Why does this story matter?
A group of wrestlers including Malik protested against Brij Bhushan at Jantar Mantar earlier this year in January. They demanded action against the former WFI chief over sexual harassment charges. The wrestlers stopped protesting after the government assured strict action. The wrestlers requested Sports Minister Anurag Thakur to stop anyone associated with Brij Bhushan from contesting in the elections. We decode Sakshi's career achievements.
Malik won the World Junior Championship bronze medal in 2010
The wrestler's first achievement was the silver medal at the 2009 Asian Junior Championship. She followed it up with the gold medal in the 2010 Asian Junior Championship. In between, the ace wrestler won the bronze medal in the 2010 World Junior Championships. Malik won the 2009 and 2010 medals in the 59kg category. Later, she switched to the 63kg category.
Silver medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Malik won her first Commonwealth Games medal in the 2014 edition in Glasgow. After a string of exceptional bouts, she lost the final against Nigeria's Aminat Adeniyi to settle for silver. A year before the 2014 CWG, she won the bronze medal at the 2013 Commonwealth Championships in Johannesburg. She won the 2014 CWG silver medal in the 58kg weight category.
India's only female wrestler to win an Olympic medal
Malik's biggest achievement in her career was winning the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She remains the only Indian female wrestler to win an Olympic medal. She secured the bronze medal in the 58kg category. Malik defeated the then-Asian Champion Aisuluu Tynybekova by a score of 8-5. She was down by five points at one stage before she made an incredible comeback.
Malik won five Asian Championship medals
The veteran won five Asian Championship medals. Her first medal came in the 2015 edition of the tournament when she won the bronze medal. She secured the silver medal in the 2017 Asian Championship. Malik followed it up with two more bronze medals in the continental championships in 2018 and 2019. Eventually, she won the silver medal at the 2021 Asian Championship.
Malik won two more medals at the Commonwealth Games
Malik won the Commonwealth Games silver in Glasgow and then won a bronze in the 2018 edition of the multi-sport event. Eventually, Sakshi stood at the top of the podium at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham by winning the gold medal. She defeated Ana Gonzalez in the final to win her third straight medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Sakshi Malik received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2016
Malik is a national icon in wrestling and the government of India recognized her contribution to the sport conferring her with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2016. The following year, she received the Padma Shri award, which is the fourth-highest civilian award in India. Surprisingly, she never won the Arjuna award as she was already awarded the Khel Ratna.
