Sakshi Malik surely did win over our hearts with her stellar performance in Olympics 2016. The wrestling icon opened up about many things surrounding the personal and professional front at the Times LitFest 2016.
The road to success
Sakshi spoke about how the road to success was really challenging. “I had to really work hard for success. It was tough to manage wrestling with school and homework. So, one day, in frustration and anger, I told my parents to let me focus on one thing and they asked me to choose studies,” laughed off the sports star. “I’m lucky because my parents supported me tremendously. My mother has played a big role in my success. In spite of being a working woman, she took care of my diet and accompanied me to competitions. In my case too, my neighbours would often taunt me — they felt that wrestling isn’t a woman’s sport. They would opine that my brother should be sent for training. However, their mindset changed after I started winning; the same people now come up to me asking for my autograph and pictures,” asserted Sakshi.
Tears and fears
“I have never felt that I won’t be able to do something. My only fear is getting injured and missing out on a match.When I underwent a knee surgery in 2014, I was worried about not achieving my goal. I was shattered as I didn’t want the injury to impact my career. I pray every day to keep me injury-free,” she said.
Future plans
“I have two main goals in life — to outperform myself in the 2020 Olympics (Tokyo) and encourage more women to take up the sport. I want my journey to become an inspiration, not only for young athletes, but also for parents so that they will encourage their children to pursue sports like wrestling. I won the bronze in my debut attempt, and I want to better that. I know what my shortcomings are,” asserted Sakshi who plans to continue wrestling even after her wedding.
