New Delhi. Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik details her wrestling journey and talks about the struggles of being a woman in a male-dominated sport. He recounted an incident in 2012, when he had to endure harassment from the then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Singh. Recalling that time, he said that speaking out could have ruined his career, so he preferred to continue his training and compete at the international level, even though the environment was extremely challenging. Sakshi said that I wanted to write a book for a long time, especially after the Olympics, I would pay attention to it. I wanted everyone to know and understand my story. I believed that this would inspire and inform many girls because of my struggles.
I took this decision after the protests and after a few days I started hearing things about the seniors. People used to say, ‘This is the man’ and ‘That’s the way he is’. I had an accident in 2012, when the then president Brij Bhushan Singh harassed me. I knew it was wrong and I simply refused, I have told the story in my book as well, that time was really very difficult for me. Sakshi decided to take action because she did not want future generations of female wrestlers to go through the same difficulties. He expressed pride in the battles he fought and said that there were some changes over time, including the removal of some people in power. However, the fight for reform continues and he remains committed to the cause.