With hardly any time left and trailing 0-5, the wrestler made a dramatic turnaround in the bout to snatch victory (8-5) from the jaws of defeat.
Sakshi's victory brought cheers to the Indian contingent that had endured agonising 11 days without a medal. The 23-year-old from Rohtak became only the fourth woman athlete from India to win an Olympic medal.
She jumped on the mat with ear-to-ear smile before being hoisted by her coach Kuldeep Singh with the Indian tri-colour draped around her.
Watch the thrilling video on this link of hotstar
(With PTI inputs)