Dubai: More than a billion people heaved a collective sigh of relief yesterday when Sakshi Malik won a bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Bronze, it may be. But it was more like a gold to the Indians who celebrated the end of an 11-day wait for a medal after three near-misses.
Woman wrestler Malik’s journey to the Olympic podium was fraught with troubles. Born in the state of Haryana, where a high rate of female foeticide has skewed the gender ratio, it was not easy to pursue wrestling.
Media reports say that her parents were admonished by villagers in Mokha, near Rohtak, for encouraging her to train as a wrestler.
The sport was in inappropriate for girls, they said.
Malik’s parents refused to budge, and at the age of 10 she travelled every day to the Sir Chotu Ram Stadium Wrestling Academy to train with the boys.
There were only a handful of other female wrestlers, led by the Phogat sisters.
The Phogats are the first family of women’s wrestling in India.
The father, wrestler Mahavir Phogat, faced down indignant villagers to turn his daughters into world class wrestlers.
Geeta and Babita Phogat went on win medals in international events.
Their pathbreaking feats are brought to screen by Bollywood star Amir Khan in the movie Dangal.
Ironically, Malik beat Geeta to qualify for the Olympics.
Vinesh Phogat, a cousin of Geeta and Babita, was heavily favoured to win a medal in Rio.
Injury
Leading 11-0 in the 48kg category quarterfinals, Vinesh suffered a tendon injury and had to be stretchered off.
Malik’s 58kg category bout followed that moment of despair in the Indian camp. And the Haryanvi girl rallied from a deficit to send India into raptures.
All three of India's woman wrestlers at Rio hail from Haryana.
Not bad for a conservative state that was recently in the news when a woman has been gangraped for a second time in three years by the same five men after a previous attack.
"Girls once not welcome at the Chotu Ram Stadium have now become its pride," Malik’s coach Ishwar Singh Dahiya told Indian media.
And Malik is certainly India’s pride at Rio.
