Not only did Sakshi Malik give India their first medal of the 2016 Rio Games, but also became the first Indian female wrestler to win an Olympic medal. However, the bronze medal looked out of her grasp till the dying moments of the 58kg freestyle bronze medal bout.
Sakshi was trailing 0-5 till the end of the first period and it seemed again that an Indian would fall just short of getting the elusive medal in Rio that the country so badly craved.
Her opponent — Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan — looked in complete control for much of the bout but the Indian wrestler didn’t give up.
With the first minute of the second period going scoreless, Sakshi had just under two minutes to turnaround things and she did just that.
Sakshi jumped in the air in joy and was immediately hugged by her two coaches. And that was it!
India had their first medal of the 2016 Rio Olympics – a wait of 11 days was finally over and it was this pocket dynamite, hailing from Rohtak that had made it possible.