India’s long wait for a medal at the Rio Olympics ended on Wednesday with the podium finish coming from an unheralded athlete. After a wrecked Olympic campaign, with highly fancied shooters, archers, boxers and tennis stars drawing a blank, the country has finally found a winner from the wrestling arena. Sakshi Malik’s bronze medal finish has come as a sweet surprise, and the whole of India will thank the Haryana girl for the unprecedented feat -- she is the first Indian woman to win a wrestling medal at the Olympics. Together with Dipa Karmakar -- the Produnova queen from Tripura -- and badminton ace PV Sindhu, Malik has delighted in Rio with brilliant outings amid the tepid and gloomy procession of the Indian contingent, punctuated by insipid performances, near-misses and contentious sports officials. At the end of her bout, Malik said: “Women are not encouraged much to do sports... I have shown that women should be encouraged.” While her performance has triggered a debate about gender bias in India, Malik’s achievement should be celebrated as triumph of her grit and sporting excellence. In the end, the colour of the medal mattered little as it was a reward for persistence and wrestling finesse.
