Sakshi Malik retires: When Haryana wrestler won bronze at Rio Olympics

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections finally took place on Thursday, 21 December and Sanjay Singh’s appointment as the new president has had some serious implications with ace wrestler Sakshi Malik announcing her retirement from the sport with immediate effect. Malik was among the leading grapplers participating in the wrestlers’ protest against former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, whom they accused of sexually harassing several female athletes. The protest had briefly taken place in January before raging through the summer from April to June, starting initially as a sit-in protest in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar before spreading to other parts of the capital as well as in cities such as Haridwar. Singh's appointment has been met with protests from wrestlers given his proximity to Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan, who has been barred from contesting the WFI polls himself with members of his family also prevented from doing the same.

The wrestlers had earlier voiced their support for Singh’s opponent Anita Sheoran, and had even approached Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur for assurance that Singh would not be elected to the top post in the country’s wrestling body. “We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling,” said a tearful Malik during a press conference on Thursday. Malik’s abrupt retirement brings the curtains down on a glittering career during which achieved podium finishes in several major events. The biggest moment of her career however, came seven years ago on the other side of the planet when she joined an elite club of Indians winning an individual Olympic medal. Winning bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics It was Malik’s bronze medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero that ultimately put her on the Indian sporting map. The gappler from Rohtak was making her maiden appearance in the world’s biggest sporting event and was part of the 117-strong contingent — which was India’s biggest at that time until it was eclipsed five years later in Tokyo.

India had been having a tough time at the Rio Olympics, not winning a single medal in the first six days after winning six in the 2012 London Games. Malik finally ended the drought on Day 12 of the games with an 8-5 victory over Aisuluu Tynybekova in the 58kg bronze medal playoff bout. She had lost 2-9 to Russia’s Valeriia Koblova in the quarter-finals but was awarded a repechage after Koblova made it to the final, where she would eventually win silver. In the process, Malik became only the fourth Indian woman to win an individual Olympics medal after weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (Sydney 2000), shuttler Saina Nehwal (London 2012) and boxer MC Mary Kom (London 2012). India would finish with just two medals in the Rio Games, with shuttler PV Sindhu winning silver in badminton women’s singles after losing against Carolina Marin in the final. Other major achievements Malik would later go on to win gold in the 62kg category in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. She has also won a silver and gold in the 2014 editions of the Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow and Gold Coast respectively. The 31-year-old has also won an Asian Championships silver in the 2017 edition in New Delhi besides winning three bronze medals in 2015, 2018 and 2019.