Winning Olympic medal and running with Indian flag like a dream … those ten seconds changed everything: Sakshi Malik

Sakshi Malik was one of India’s only two medallists at the Rio Olympic Games, winning a bronze in the women’s 58 kg category. Sakshi, India’s flag-bearer at the Rio 2016 closing ceremony, created history as the first Indian woman wrestler to ever win an Olympic medal, and will be felicitated with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, which will also be conferred upon P V Sindhu, Dipa Karmakar and Jitu Rai, by the government of India. Sakshi spoke to Raghav Gupta in Rio on her medal-winning feat, her thoughts on becoming a champion and why she feels Vinesh Phogat would definitely have won a medal too if she hadn’t been injured:

How does it feel to be an Olympic medallist?
It feels great. This is the best feeling i have ever had. I have given 12 years of my life to wrestling in order to get this medal and worked hard day and night to achieve this dream.

How did it feel like to walk around the Olympic Park with the tricolour draped around your shoulders?
This was my biggest dream. I used to get dreams sometimes where i would be running with the Indian flag but it has never happened like this before in reality. In the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 i won a silver medal but silver medallists don’t get the chance to drape the tricolour like this in other tournaments. It is different winning a medal at the Olympics. I kept telling myself – now you have a medal, now you can wave the tricolour, you can do whatever you feel like.

You had six minutes in that final medal play-off with Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan and were behind for 5 minutes and 50 seconds, yet you came back from behind to win 8-5. How did you deal with the pressure in those final seconds?
I did not accept defeat in those 10 seconds. I knew there were only 10 seconds left and i had to do something. I told myself that the medal was going out of my hand, so you must do something. And then everything changed, just changed. Those 10 seconds changed everything.

It takes a lot to win an Olympic medal and a lot of your illustrious compatriots lost before you. Did you feel pressured by that, especially after Vinesh Phogat lost her bout?
Yes. Vinesh, i and our other friends in Rio used to talk about how we are not winning a medal and discuss what was happening with our contingent. There were daily disappointments with someone or the other losing every day. We were all feeling bad about this and then it came down to the wrestlers. We had to do something but then Vinesh got injured. Somewhere, her injury did divert my mind.

But then i thought no problem, the responsibility and pressure is on me now and i must do something or the other for India. If Vinesh had not been injured i can assure you she would definitely have won a medal. She was a stronger contender than me. Her injury put a lot of pressure on me but i did well and showed what we can do.

How worried were you when the Kyrgyzstan team challenged your victory and before the judge ruled in your favour?
Their challenge didn’t matter to me because the coaches had already told me that i had won. Coaches will never say the wrong thing. They had seen the points clearly so i had already started my celebrations. I wasn’t worried about the challenge and had no stress.

Do you realise what a big achievement this is?
I still don’t feel it, but as time goes by i will remember how much hard work i did for this medal, how many sacrifices were made and i will celebrate a lot at home.

People always expected medals from wrestlers but not from women wrestlers. Do you think you have crossed a major gender barrier?
Since the time i have known wrestling all i have wanted is to go to the Olympics and win a medal. Now that i have achieved it, i am feeling very peaceful for having got what i wanted from life.

Geeta [Phogat] didi qualified for London 2012 and showed us the way. When she qualified we thought we could also do so in the future and do well in other categories. At that time the aim used to be to qualify. Then it was about becoming the first woman wrestler with a medal and that has finally happened now.