The country’s sporting fraternity, led by iconic Sachin Tendulkar, on Thursday hailed wrestler Sakshi Malik for clinching a historic bronze to end India’s frustrating wait for a medal at the Rio Olympic Games.
Tendulkar, who is also a goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent at the Rio Games, praised Sakshi for her resilience after she won bronze in the women's wrestling 58kg class .
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Sakshi Malik.
Twitter was abuzz with congratulatory messages pouring in.
Excerpts (alphabetically):
Ravichandran Ashwin: “#SakshiMalik has made India proud. Wrestling in India gets another big boost.#Rio2016.”
Abhinav Bindra: “Congratulations and felicitations to Sakshi Malik. What a great performance. Thank you for lifting our spirits.”
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: “Great comeback by Sakshi Malik 2 win our 1st medal in Rio. determination and self belief r the key for a performance like this. congratulation.”
Jwala Gutta: “Wowwwwww amazing amazinggggg #SakshiMalik. Take a bow ????????”
Anil Kumble: “Well done #SakshiMalik on your achievement! Proud of you! #Rio2016.”
Sushil Kumar: “She has done what no Indian girl has done before. A real hero #SakshiMalik u have set a path 4 many more 2 follow u.”
VVS Laxman: “Congratulations to #SakshiMalik on winning the Bronze in Women’s Freestyle 58kg to give India its first medal???? We are proud of u?? #Rio2016.”
MC Mary Kom: “Congratulation #SakshiMalik Be strong #Rio2016 #wrestling #KheloIndia.”
Gagan Narang: “When a Bronze is Heavier than a Gold ...#SakshiMalik Take a Bow????????????????”
Virender Sehwag: “#SakshiMalik is a reminder of what cn happn if u don’t kill a girl child. When d going gets tough, its our girls who get going &save our pride.”
Heena Sidhu: “What an elation in the middle of the night!! Difficult to sleep with so much adrenaline in my system after a nail biting match #SakshiMalik.”
Rupinder Pal Singh: “Thank you #SakshiMalik for our first medal of #Rio2016 campaign! We all salute your courage & determination! Stellar effort! #wrestling.”
Vijender Singh: “Bow down to #SakshiMalik’s mother as well, who encouraged her 2 pursue wrestling. Tdy a country of1.25bn is rejoicing.”
PR Sreejesh: “Congratulation #SakshiMalik...”
Sachin Tendulkar: “What great news to wake up to! #SakshiMalik, your resilience at #Rio2016 has made whole of India proud. Many Congratulations!!!”
Sakshi Malik won India's fifth medal in Olympics wrestling when she won the bronze in 58 kg freestyle at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday. Wrestling gave India their first-ever individual medal after Independence, when KD Jadhav won bronze way back in 1952. Following is the list of medal winners in wrestling, who preceded Sakshi.
KD Jadhav: He won the bronze medal in the 52kg in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He won four out of six bouts and won the bronze.
Sushil Kumar: He won the bronze in the 66kg in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the silver in the same category in 2012 London.
In Beijing, he defeated Doug Schwab (US) in the first repechage round and Albert Batyrov (Belarus) in the second round. In the bronze-medal match, Sushil beat Leonid Spiridonov (Kazakhstan).
In 2012 London, Sushil defeated Kazakhstan’s Akzhurek Tanatarov in semis and lost to Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu (Japan) in the final.
Yogeshwar Dutt: He won bronze in the 60kg category in 2012 London Olympics. He defeated Ri Jong-Myong (North Korea) in the bronze medal bout of the repechage round.
