Sakshi Malik Kadian (born 3 September 1992) is a former Indian

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics. In 2017, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

honoured her with the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

, the country's fourth-highest civilian award and in 2024, she became the first Indian wrestler to feature in ''Time'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program, along with fellow female wrestlers

Vinesh Phogat Vinesh Phogat (; born 25 August 1994) is an Indian politician and former wrestler, who is a current member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Haryana. She won the 2024 assembly election from Julana constituency representing the Indian Nati ...

, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.JSW Sports Excellence Program
, additional. Malik had previously won the silver medal at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and the bronze medal at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

. She was one of the leaders of the 2023 Indian wrestlers' protest against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. In December 2023, she announced her retirement from wrestling after the election of a close aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as WFI chief.

Early life

Malik was born on 3 September 1992 in Mokhra village of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

Rohtak district Rohtak district is a district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is located in the southeast of the state and northwest of Delhi, bounded by Jind and Sonipat districts to the north, Jhajjar and Sonipat districts to the east, and Hissar, C ...

to Sukhbir, a bus conductor with Delhi Transport Corporation, and Sudesh Malik, a supervisor at a local

health clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care need ...

. According to her father, she was motivated to take up wrestling from seeing her grandfather Badlu Ram, who was also a wrestler. She began training in wrestling at the age of 12 under a coach, Ishwar Dahiya, at an

Akhara Akhara or Akhada (Hindi: अखाड़ा, romanised: ''Akhāṛā'') is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists or a ''sampradaya'' monastery fo ...

in Chhotu Ram Stadium,

Rohtak Rohtak () is a city and the administrative headquarters of the Rohtak district in the Indian state of Haryana. It lies north-west of New Delhi and south of the state capital Chandigarh on NH 9 (old NH 10). Rohtak forms a part of the Nationa ...

. However, there were four people out there namely, Kuldeep Malik, Ishwar Dahiya, Mandeep Singh, and Rajbir Singh who claimed themselves as the coach of Sakshi Malik. Later on, Sakshi herself submitted an affidavit with the sports department, informing that Ishwar Dahiya and Mandeep Singh are her coaches.

Career

Malik's first success as a professional wrestler in the international arena came in 2010 at the Junior World Championships where she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg freestyle event. At the 2014 Dave Schultz International Tournament, she won gold in the 60 kg category. And after that, she never stopped and maintained her passion and dedication to the game.

2014

Malik began her campaign at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games winning her quarterfinal bout against Edwige Ngono Eyia of Cameroon by a 4–0 margin. In the semifinal, she faced Braxton Stone of Canada whom she defeated 3–1 to assure herself of a medal. Her opponent in the final was Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria who defeated her 4–0 in a closely contested bout. At the 2014 World Championships in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, she faced Anta Sambou of Senegal in the Round of 16, and won the bout 4–1. She crashed out of the tournament after a 1–3 loss to Petra Olli of Finland.

2015

At the 2015 Asian Championships in

, Qatar, in a total of five rounds in the 60 kg category, Malik battled through two rounds to finish in the third position and claim a bronze medal. In the first round, she faced Luo Xiaojuan of China but was beaten 4–5 by the fall verdict. She came back strongly in the second round to beat Munkhtuya Tungalag of Mongolia 13–0, before losing in the third round to Yoshimi Kayama of Japan. She was able to clinch the bronze medal in the fourth round, beating Ayaulym Kassymova of Kazakhstan.

2016

Malik qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics by defeating China's

Zhang Lan Zhang Lan (; 1872 – February 1955), courtesy name Biaofang (表方), was a Chinese political activist best known for being the chairman of the China Democratic League from its founding in 1941 until his death in 1955. Biography Zhang was bo ...

in the semifinal of the 58 kg category at the Olympic World Qualifying Tournament in May 2016. At the Olympics, she won her Round of 32 bout against Sweden's

Johanna Mattsson Johanna Mattsson (born 2 May 1988 in Gällivare) is a wrestler from Sweden. She is a three-time bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships (2010, 2017, 2021). She is also a two-time gold medalist at the European Wrestling Championships ...

and Round of 16 bout against Moldova's Mariana Cherdivara. After losing to the eventual finalist Valeria Koblova of Russia in the quarterfinal, she qualified for the repechage round where she defeated Pürevdorjiin Orkhon of Mongolia in her first bout. She won the bronze medal after an 8–5 victory over the reigning Asian champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

, despite trailing 0–5 at one stage, in the repechage medal playoff, and became India's first female wrestler to win an Olympic medal.

2017

Sakshi Malik represented 'Colors Delhi Sultans' in the second edition of the Pro Wrestling League held in January 2017. She has also been featured in the women's day campaign called #EveryWomanStrong for her sponsor JSW Group.

2022

In 2022, she competed at the Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey. She won the bronze medal in her event at the 2022 Tunis Ranking Series event held in Tunis, Tunisia. She won the gold medal at 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

2023

She announced her voluntary retirement with grief. After putting the shoes on the table at a press conference, she said she would never participate in wrestling because the close aide of Brijbhushan Singh, MP and former WFI chief was polluting the federation.

Personal life

Malik is currently employed with Indian Railways in the commercial department of its Delhi division, in the

Northern Railway zone The Northern Railway (NR) is one of the 17 Railway zones of India and the northernmost zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Baroda House in New Delhi. History Officially notified as a new railway zone on 14 April 1952, ...

and she is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program. Following her bronze medal win at Rio, she was promoted from senior clerk to gazetted officer rank. Malik has completed a master's degree in physical education from

Maharshi Dayanand University Maharshi Dayanand University (also called M.D. University or simply MDU; formerly University of Rohtak) is an Indian public university in Rohtak, Haryana. Established in 1976, the university is named after the noted Indian social reformer Dayan ...

in Rohtak. In September 2016, she was appointed as the university's wrestling director. In an interview shortly after the Rio Olympics, Malik said she was engaged to be married to fellow wrestler Satyawart Kadian later in 2016. They got married on 2 April 2017. Kadian is also an international level wrestler and has won medals in Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. In May 2023, she and other people were arrested by Delhi police for taking part in protests On November 14 2024, She gave birth to a baby girl named Yoshida Kadian.

Accusation of sexual misconduct

Malik, along with

and other wrestlers, accused Brij Bhushan Singh, a

member of the Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections on ...

and the president of the Wrestling Federation of India of sexual and mental harassment. They organised Indian wrestlers' protest in January 2023 and demanded the dissolution of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The government's assurance to form an oversight committee to investigate the claims caused the protests to be dropped in January 2023. In April 2023, the protesting wrestlers returned to their rallies, claiming that the government was doing nothing.

Awards and recognition

(2017) - fourth highest Indian national honour * Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna (2016) - highest sporting honour of India * Multiple cash prizes totaling over from the Indian Railways, the

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha'') is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international spor ...

, the

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of Youth Affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Mansukh Mandaviya is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports foll ...

, the Government of Delhi, various state governments, including

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, from private bodies such as the

JSW Group JSW Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, based in Mumbai. It is led by Sajjan Jindal and founded by Om Prakash Jindal. The group's diverse businesses include steel, energy, infrastructure, cement, automotive and paints, across In ...

and from political groups including the

Indian National Lok Dal The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is a political party based primarily in the Indian state of Haryana. It was initially founded as the Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) by Devi Lal in 1996, who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India. The ...

. *Promotion to gazetted officer rank by her employer, the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. *Class 2 job offer from the Government of Haryana. *500 yd² land grant from the Government of Haryana.

In popular culture

In 2022, Malik appeared in a short documentary by German broadcaster

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

about women in wrestling, featuring young wrestler Payal Sharma. The documentary features Malik training Sharma on her way to be a professional wrestler, as well as a traditionally held gender roles in India and, in particular, women in sports.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malik, Sakshi Living people 1992 births Sportswomen from Haryana Sportspeople from Rohtak Wrestlers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games gold medallists in wrestling Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists in wrestling Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers for India Olympic bronze medalists for India Olympic medalists in wrestling Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Wrestlers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India Asian Wrestling Championships medalists Maharshi Dayanand University alumni