Medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik lashes out at Haryana govt

Indian wrestling champion, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik on Saturday slammed the ML Khattar government, saying she had fulfilled her vow of winning a medal and asked if their announcements were only for the media’s benefit.

Malik had delighted the entire country when she became the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics and only the fourth Indian female athlete to win an Olympics medal. Malik had won a wrestling bronze in the 58 kg category at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil. She is also a silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and bronze medallist at the 2015 Asian Championship.

Malik did not repeat on Saturday what exactly she had been promised, but NDTV reported that the Haryana government had announced cash rewards and incentives amounting to at least ₹3.5 crore after Sakshi created history at the Rio Games last year.

Malik tagged the Haryana Chief Minister’s office, Haryana sports minister Anil Vij and Union MoS for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel in her tweets. It may be recalled that Vij had drawn flak for travelling to Rio along with a contingent at a cost of ₹1 crore to the exchequer, ostensibly to encourage participating Haryana athletes, but was found to have spent time sightseeing, and had skipped the event of some Haryana wrestlers.

This article was updated at 11.54 pm on March 4 to reflect that Malik is the fourth Indian female athlete to win an Olympics medal.