After ending India’s agonising wait for an Olympic medal at the Rio Games with a bronze medal, Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik said it was the result of 12 years of persistent hard work.

The 23-year-old scripted history by becoming the first woman wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal and only the fourth female athlete from the country to climb to the podium at the biggest sporting event.

The 23-year-old from Haryana, a silver medallist at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and bronze winner at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, earned a dramatic come-from-behind 8-5 win over Kyrgysztan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova in the bronze medal play-off.

 And here are her epic quotes since her victory: 

b'”My 12 years of hard work has paid off.”‘

Feature image source: AFP