'I had sleepless nights and in the mornings I used to train': Sakshi Malik recalls 2016 Rio Olympics
The first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics, Sakshi Malik, recalled her time in Rio during the 2016 Olympics. The 28-year-old from Haryana revealed how she worked hard day in and day out to fulfill her dream of winning an Olympic medal.
During her appearance on PV Sindhu's new show 'The A-Game by PV Sindhu,' Sakshi Malik shared the story of her Olympics bronze medal victory.
She mentioned that the three months abroad were quite significant because she learned new techniques and gained tons of experience training with the world's best female wrestlers.
Sakshi Malik credits training camps before the Olympics for her medal win
Sakshi Malik stated that she had become a wrestler to fulfill her simple dream of sitting on an airplane. Gradually, she came to know about the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games, the Olympics, and the prominence that these competitions had in an athlete's life.
Disclosing her mindset before the Rio Olympics in 2016, Sakshi Malik said:
"To tell you like a year or a year and a half before the Olympics, I was just focused on Rio, and that's all that I could see all day. It was the first thought in my mind when I got up, and I had that in mind that I have to get there and win a medal."
"I had sleepless nights, and in the mornings, I used to train. We had training camps abroad where I got a lot of variation with respect to partners from different countries who were medalists at the world and the Olympics level themselves. I had a chance to have a few wrestling matches with these top wrestlers. I learned a lot of new techniques and gained a lot of experience as well," continued Sakshi Malik.
It is noteworthy that the 28-year-old from Rohtak had lost to Russian wrestler Valeria Koblova in the Rio Olympics' quarterfinals. However, Sakshi Malik returned via repechage and defeated Pürevdorjiin Orkhon and Aisuluu Tynybekova to secure a bronze medal in the 58kg category.
Sakshi Malik has not qualified for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics yet, but Indian sports fans expect her to secure her berth for the mega event soon.