Geeta Phogat

We need to trust our coaches. Unless we trust them we can't get the result. ”

We did not had enough facilities in the village. My family was also not well off. There was no mat, no gym; we used to wrestle in the mud. It was very different from the national camps where I trained before the Commonwealth Games. ”

We had a very hard training during our childhood and I don't want to live it again. ”

Now my grandmother, who used to want sons, says that she does not really want boys anymore. She says I'm the lion of the family. ”

In my village, girls have limited opportunities. If they get admission in a college, only a few households would allow them to go for further studies. ”

I feel that Indian women are too frightened. They all say, 'I can't do this, I can't do that.' Worse, their families don't support them. ”

I have faith in myself. ”

The coaches boosts our confidence when we lose. They remind us that we have done it once before and we can do it again. ”

Things are not going to change until Indian women, and their parents, stop being afraid of what society will say. This is the single biggest obstacle. The fear of what people will say and how this will shame their parents means that women are paralysed. ”

One never knows how a bout is going to pan out and even in last 2-3 seconds things can change. ”