Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal when she took bronze in the 58 kg freestyle category at Rio 2016. She did it the hard way, through the repechage, and in the bronze medal bout she came back from 0-5 down to beat Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova 8-5. Six years later she won Commonwealth gold in Birmingham, and in 2023 she became one of the leading voices in the wrestlers’ protest against the head of the national federation.
Name: Sakshi Malik | Born: 3 September 1992, Mokhra, Rohtak, Haryana | Sport: Wrestling | Event: Women’s freestyle (58 kg, 60 kg, 62 kg)
The akhara in Rohtak
Sakshi grew up in Mokhra, a village in Rohtak district, Haryana. She started wrestling at the age of 12 under coach Ishwar Dahiya at the akhara in Rohtak’s Chhotu Ram Stadium. In those years girls in wrestling were still unusual in rural Haryana, and Dahiya faced criticism for training them alongside the boys.
She developed into a strong, tactical wrestler with good defence. Her first international medal came at the 2010 Junior World Championships, where she won bronze. From 2010 her coach was Mandeep Singh, who stayed with her until 2023.
Glasgow silver and Asian medals
Sakshi broke through at senior level at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She reached the 58 kg final and lost 0-4 to Nigeria’s Aminat Adeniyi, taking silver. At the 2015 Asian Championships in Doha she won bronze at 60 kg, and two years later, at the 2017 Asian Championships in New Delhi, she won silver.
The comeback in Rio
Rio 2016 brought the defining day of her career. In the 58 kg event she lost her quarter-final to Russia’s Valeria Koblova. When Koblova reached the final, Sakshi was brought back into the repechage, and she won her way through to a bronze medal bout against Tynybekova.
The Kyrgyz wrestler led 5-0 for much of the match. Sakshi kept going forward, cut the gap and, with the clock running down, scored the points that gave her an 8-5 win. It was India’s first medal of the Rio Games, coming late in the second week, and it made her the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in wrestling. The next day P. V. Sindhu added a silver in badminton, and the two were celebrated together on their return home.
Gold in Birmingham
Sakshi won bronze at 62 kg at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. The years that followed were difficult, as she lost trials and her place in the national team to younger wrestlers. She fought her way back for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, again at 62 kg.
In the final she trailed Canada’s Ana Godinez Gonzalez 0-4. In the second period she turned the bout around and pinned her opponent for a win by fall. It gave her a full set of Commonwealth medals: bronze, silver and gold.
Protest and retirement
In January 2023 Sakshi, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and other leading wrestlers accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, then president of the Wrestling Federation of India, of sexual harassment of women wrestlers. Their protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi went on for months and drew national attention.
On 21 December 2023, after Sanjay Singh, a close associate of Brij Bhushan, was elected the federation’s new president, Sakshi announced her retirement from wrestling at a press conference in Delhi. In 2024 she published a memoir, Witness, about her career and the protests. She has continued to speak on the issue, and in May 2026 she publicly backed Vinesh Phogat’s attempt to return to competition.
Personal life
Sakshi married fellow wrestler Satyawart Kadian on 2 April 2017. Their daughter was born in November 2024.
Career record and honours
- Olympic Games: bronze, women’s freestyle 58 kg, Rio 2016 (first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal)
- Commonwealth Games: gold, 62 kg, Birmingham 2022; silver, 58 kg, Glasgow 2014; bronze, 62 kg, Gold Coast 2018
- Asian Championships: silver, 60 kg, New Delhi 2017; bronze, 60 kg, Doha 2015
- Junior World Championships: bronze, 2010
- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, 2016
- Padma Shri, 2017
- Memoir: Witness (2024)
