Sakshi Malik Biography

Sakshi Malik born on September 3, 1992,  is an Indian wrestler who has won a bronze medal in the 58 Kg category at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. She has become the first female Indian wrestler who has bagged a medal at the Olympics. Apart from Olympics, Malik had participated and won a silver in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and a bronze at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha.

Early Life

Sakshi Malik hails from Mokhra village of Rohtak district in Haryana. Her father, Sukhbir Malik, is a bus conductor and her mother, Sudeh Malik, is a supervisor at a local health clinic (anganwadi). She was inspired by her grandfather, Badhlu Ram, who was also a wrestler. Her wrestling training started when she was just 12. Her coach, Ishwar Dahiya trained her at an akhara in Chhotu Ram Stadium, Rohtak. For taking up a sport that, according to conservative Indian mentality, is “not meant for girls” Malik and her coach faced many problems during the initial stages of the former’s national competition sports career.

Personal Life

Malik is an employee of Indian Railways in its Delhi division and in the commercial department in the Northern Railway Zone. After she won a bronze medal in the Rio Olympics, she was promoted to gazetted officer rank from being a senior clerk at the Indian Railways. She has pursued her post-graduation in Physical Education from Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak.

Wrestling Career

• Malik earned her first bronze medal in the 58 Kg freestyle event at the Junior World Championships in 2010
• Her determination became stronger with this medal, which motivated her to win a gold in 60 Kg category at the 2014 Dave Schultz International Tournament. At the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, she played against Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria, who beat her 4-0 in the contest
• She won the bout 4-1 at the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent, where Malik played against Anta Sambou of Senegal. However, later she was knocked down by Finland’s Petra Olli. She came out with a bronze medal in the 60 Kg category at the 2015 Asian Championships in Doha, Qatar

2016 Rio Olympics

At the Olympic World Qualifying Tournament in May 2016, Sakshi Malik defeated China’s Zhang Lan and qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics. She bagged her round of 32 bout against Johanna Mattsson of Sweden and round 16 bout against Mariana Cherdivara of Moldova, at the Olympics. In the quarter-finals, the eventual finalist Valeria Koblova of Russia defeated her; however, she beat Mongolia’s Pürevdorjiin Orkhon in the first bout of the repechage round, and qualified. With 8-5 victory over champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan, she earned a bronze and became the first female wrestler of India to win an Olympic medal

Awards Record

• The Government of Haryana has honoured Sakshi Malik with a cash award of ₹2.5 crore (US$370,000)
• The Indian Railways gifted her ₹60 lakh (US$89,000)
• The Government of Uttar Pradesh awarded her Rani Laxmi Bai Award with a cash prize of ₹3.11 lakh (US$4,600)
• She has received: ₹15 lakh (US$22,000) from the JSW Group; ₹20 lakh (US$30,000) from the Indian Olympic Association; ₹20 lakh (US$30,000) from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• For qualifying for the Olympics, Salman Khan gifted her ₹1.01 lakh (US$1,500)
• She has been promoted from a senior clerk to a gazetted officer rank in the Indian Railways