The winner of the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics, Sakshi Malik, has returned to her homeland to a hero’s welcome. The wrestler won the medal in the 58kg event through the repechage system. Sakshi was seen being greeted by a huge crowd at the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi.
The winner of the first medal for India at the Rio Games spoke to NDTV where she said that she wanted to fight for her country till the very end and wanted to bring home that elusive medal. After arriving in Delhi, Sakshi said, “There was a lot of expectations for medals from other events. I felt a little disappointed that India still had not won a medal, and when my event came I wanted to give my best and fight till the end for my country.”
The Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar was also seen felicitating the wrestler at a ceremony in Bahadurgarh. Sakshi has also been named as the ambassador of the ‘Beti Bachao’ initiative of the Haryana government.
Sakshi also expressed her happiness at the welcome, “I'm very happy I have received such a huge welcome. I want to thank all those who have supported me.”
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The 23-year old wrestler was named as India’s flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the Games in Rio after she had won the bronze medal. Sakshi said, “I had dreamt of going to the Olympics and getting a medal, but never thought I will get the opportunity to be India's flag bearer. That dream has also come true and it is a matter of great pride for me that I carried the Indian flag.”
The wrestler was expressed her joy of being named as a Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee. The award will be presented to her on August 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Sakshi said, “I'm very happy that I'm receiving the Khel Ratna.”
Earlier at the Rio Olympics, India was facing a drought in the medal tally when Sakshi Malik came from behind to win her bout against Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova 3-1 which helped India in winning its first medal at Rio 2016. In doing so, Sakshi also made history as she became the first female wrestler from India to win an Olympic medal.
