India’s Sakshi Malik won a bronze medal in the wrestling 58kg category after the Indian beat Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) 8-5 in the bronze medal bout.
She became the first Indian female wrestler to win an Olympics medal.
In a thrilling contest, Sakshi fought back from 0-5 down to seal the bout 8-5 in her favour.
With seconds left on the clock, she produced a three-point move to seal the bout and India’s first medal at Rio 2016 Olympics.
Tynybekova asked for referral, but the decision stayed in favour of the Indian.
The 23-year-old from Rohtak (Haryana) is only the fourth woman athlete from India to win an Olympic medal.
Weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari (Sydney 2000), boxer M C Mary Kom (London 2012) and shuttler Saina Nehwal (London 2012) are the others.
Sakshi was inspired by her grandfather, a wrestler, to start playing the sport.
Women’s wrestling really took off in India in the mid-1990s. But it was not until 2002 that girls were allowed to train with boys in Haryana.
Ishwar Singh Dahiya, who coached Malik, and is among those credited for the success of women’s wrestling in India has said that women have now “put Rohtak on the world wrestling map”.