'Olympic medal transforms athlete's life and society': Sakshi Malik

Rio Games bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik feels winning an Olympic medal not only transforms an athletes life but also impacts society creating numerous opportunities for childrenSakshi became the first woman wrestler to secure an Olympic medal winning a bronze at the Rio Games in 2016An Olympic dream is not just an athletes dream its the dream of an entire family Winning an Olympic medal transforms not only the life of the athlete but also the lives of their family society and village Sakshi said at a media event in Mumbai organised by JSW Sports on FridayThe 31yearold claimed that her home city of Rohtak has undergone several changes in terms of sporting infrastructure since her medalwinning run eight years agoAfter my medal significant changes occurred The Chhotu Ram Stadium in Rohtak where I trained went from having a tin roof to becoming an AC hall A stadium was even built in my village and named after meAn Olympic medal creates numerous opportunities especially for children allowing them to train in better facilities The craze for wrestling in Haryana has surged Everywhere you go theres a stadium every ten minutes and youll find girls training in each one The old mindset that girls couldnt wrestle has changed dramaticallyAlso Read lsquoMedals possible but will be toughrsquo Saina Nehwal on Indias Paris Olympics medal prospectsWith women wrestlers doing well on the world stage more and more girls are taking up the sport with an aim to attain Olympic gloryThe misconceptions that girls are impure and shouldnt participate in wrestling have been debunked Now girls are proving that they too can excel in wrestlingOut of the six Indian wrestlers who have qualified for this months Paris Olympics five are female grapplers Vinesh Phogat 50kg Antim Panghal 53kg Anshu Malik 57kg Nisha Dahiya 68kg and Reetika Hooda 76kgThere was a time when people believed that girls couldnt wrestle but today this has changed For the first time five girls are going to the Olympics for wrestling while only one boy is going Girls who were once suppressed are now boldly stepping forward and excelling in wrestling After my medal win no one enters wrestling merely thinking about securing a job or a benefit They now start with the goal of winning an Olympic medal This shift in mindset is incredibly inspiringIndian gymnast Dipa Karmakar who missed out on a medal by a whisker at the Rio Games reiterated Sakshis viewsAfter the 2016 Rio Olympics a lot of things have changed in Tripura People had a mindset that they cant go into gymnastics And in Tripura there were a lot of changes For example the infrastructure the vault that you see you need a lot of foam pits which are very important They werent there beforeKarmakars hometown like Sakshis witnessed a surge in gymnastics and several training centres came upAfter the 2016 Olympics they built the foam pit there and a lot of equipment came And the childrens interest level increased a lot Earlier there were very few centres but now everywhere whether its government or private the centres have increased a lotAnd everyones mindset is that we also want to go to the Olympics which wasnt there before So according to me after the 2016 Rio Olympics a lot of peoples mindsets changed which was very important she addedWith agency inputs