The news interviewed young wrestlers while they were traveling. Reetika Hooda was on the verge of death.
This year, five Indian women wrestlers have qualified for the Olympics, including the 23-year-old.
It’s a hard-won chance that she earned after a year of disappointments that made her doubt herself. She was aware that in order to get better, she would need to compete and exercise more.
After Indian wrestling federation head Brij Bhushan Singh was charged with sexual misbehavior a year ago, all wrestling in the country was suspended. He refutes the accusations.
The Indian Sports Ministry disbanded the federation and appointed a temporary committee to oversee operations, but it did not fire Singh despite discovering multiple violations, including a violation of sexual harassment regulations.
It was a moment unlike any other. Hooda recalls seeing the best wrestlers in the nation, including her idol Sakshi Malik (the only Indian woman to win an Olympic medal), camp out on Delhi’s streets and call for Singh’s resignation.
The protest gained international notice, particularly after the wrestlers were arrested by Indian police while trying to march to the nation’s new parliament building. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) demanded an unbiased investigation into the wrestlers’ concerns and denounced the manner in which they were handled.
